The Green Eyes That Saved Me
by Fullmetalgeassvampire
Summary: Lonely, lost, and devoid of all hope: Levi Ackerman had lost sight of life. He was going about his daily chores with the monotonous ways of a robot. Suicidal and self-harming, Levi never thought he would be able to restore any manor of dignity or significance to his world. He believed no one would care if he just slipped away. It took one look from Eren Jaeger to change his mind.
1. Chapter 1

The streetlamps glowed dully, filling the sky above with polluted orange light. The stars were invisible, and yet I still stared up towards the atmosphere, finding an easy excuse to avert my eyes from the trickle of blood running down my upturned wrist. I sat inside my old silver car, parked innocently on the pavement just outside my local convenience store. It was late, almost midnight, and I had just driven back from work. My job is meaningless and repetitive, as most people who are also employed full time by a fast food company would say. I begin my shift at 7am, and continue to serve chips and hamburgers to whoever comes my way until unfortunately late that same night. I've given up trying to be cheerful, that plan went down the drain fifteen years ago when I first took up the job.

As I resided in the driver's seat of my car, pocket knife in hand, I watched the people who ran the convenience store closing up for the night. It was 11pm, a mere hour after I finished my own working shift. I'm pretty sure it's illegal to work for more than 12 hours like this, and I'd be prepared to bet my life that none of the cheerful co-workers exiting the store opposite me had arrived at their workplace just as the sun was making its first appearance this morning.

My life is as pointless as you could imagine. I walk in circles, going to work and then coming home, eating if I can be bothered, and then resentfully sleeping, only to be woken by my 6am alarm after a night of the usual unpleasant insomniac's dreams. This repetition has been my daily life ever since my parents died when I was 16. I was forced to mature and strike out on my own, buying a house after lying my way past lawyers and police officers. Once I had managed to purchase my fifth floor apartment in the dirtiest part of town, I began the hopeless search for work, and lived in poverty and unemployment for 2 long years. It was just after I turned 18 that I passed my driver's test and earned my licence, which then allowed me to expand my daily job-scouting missions into the outskirts of the city. It was there that I stumbled upon a junk food takeaway restaurant who agreed to take me in. Fifteen years later, at my current age of 33, the salary is still horrific, I have had no promotion, and the working conditions and colleagues are as abysmal as one could ever imagine.

As was most likely inevitable, I started self-harming when I was 26, on the tenth anniversary of my parents' deaths. They were brutally stabbed to death whilst walking home from a evening out, so I decided to slit my wrist a little as a kind of tribute to them. It hurt, but it also felt good, indescribably good. After spending 10 years trapped inside my own body, living a life that was rapidly spiralling downhill, it was a relief to be able to take back a certain degree of control. If I wanted to inflict pain upon myself, I could, and that was a luxury I fought for. It quickly became addictive, and I continued cutting myself for many years, up to where I am now: seated in my car, slitting open the thin skin on my wrist. Both of my inner arms have thousands of thin scars, making me look somewhat like a mutilated zebra. But I am proud of them, rather than being repulsed like most people.

I flipped my pocket knife closed and hid it in the glove compartment of my car, just in case a police officer happened to be passing. I didn't fancy being spied on by somebody who had the authority to remove even the little amount of freedom I had left.

I gazed intently out of the window, feeling a pair of eyes watching me closely. The stare belonged to a youthful boy who was standing opposite my car on the other side of the road. He was wrapped tightly in a thick brown coat, possibly made out of leather, with thick faux fur insulating the hood and sleeves. I could not afford such luxuries as warm clothing, so I was clad in my work uniform, with a cheap knitted sweater pulled messily over the top. The boy didn't look any older than 19, but the way he looked at me reminded me of someone much more mature. Curiosity overwhelmed me and I wound down my window, determined to observe his gaze without the interference of dirty glass.

Instead of the accusatory glare I had been expecting, my own dark eyes were met with round green orbs, that looked right back with an expression I had never experienced before: pity. While I was struggling to understand why he would be staring at me with a kind and sorrowful aura, said boy had begun to make his way across the road towards my car. Common sense told me to close the window, but there was something about him that made me certain of the fact that he wasn't a homicidal thug, and that I had nothing to fear from him.

He swiftly crossed the road - that was unusually scant of any traffic - and stopped a few paces away from my car, keeping a respectful distance. I noticed that his eyes had dropped a few inches south of my face, and I silently cursed myself as I hurriedly rolled my sleeve down over my blood spattered wrist.

"Why?" the teenager asked me, shifting his gaze back to my eyes and making me feel as though I was being scrutinized by a schoolteacher.

I shrugged my shoulders in response, stubbornly hiding the secrets of my past. This seemed to anger and frustrate the boy, as an equally defiant expression shrouded his face.

"Why do you do that to yourself?" he insisted, advancing one step closer to the car door.

"It's none of your business," I replied curtly, beginning to wind up the window.

I had been mistaken, there was nothing special about this boy. He was just another busybody who was up to no good. But even as I convinced myself of this, he astounded me yet again. As the glass had begun to rise up he had sprung forward, halting it immediately with his hands and forcing it down. I wound it back again, slightly alarmed by this sudden show of strength. The boy's sleeves had ridden up his wrists slightly, exposing his well toned, muscled arms.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I growled, shifting forward threateningly in my seat. "You could have broken my car. Do I look like the kind of person who could afford repairs?"

The boy gulped, apparently steadying or preparing himself, before he replied. His voice remained as calm and caring as it had been when he had first approached me, despite my loss of temper. Then again, you can't expect an introvert like me to hold my patience with intruding teenagers.

"No," he said simply, averting his eyes to the floor for the first time. "You look like the kind of person who needs someone to love them. You are tired, with dark bags under your eyes and an unhealthily pale complexion. Your hair is overlong and your clothes are untidy. That, along with the fact that your car is in need of a service, tells me that you don't have much money and probably a trying job. You are skinny and you look depressed, not to mention the fact that you have clearly been self harming for a long time. Please, let me help you."

I let out a strangled laugh, trying to stomach the fact that he knew almost everything about me. Was he some kind of stalker?

"What kind of a fool would I be if I just invited you into my life?" I asked sceptically, trying to regain some of my edge over the kid. "Look. I don't know why you felt the need to come over here, and as you can probably tell, I don't overly appreciate it. But, do you need a lift somewhere? If so, just ask next time, don't try all the heart-to-heart nonsense to win me over. I'm a reasonable man."

The boy shook his head, infuriating me considerably. But as I prepared myself to swear and drive away, he looked up into my face, and this time his gaze was imploring.

"Could you please show me the way to a convenience store?" he asked, acting strangely clueless despite his previously intelligent advances. "I need to pick something up."

"You left it a bit late," I scoffed, gesturing behind me to the now closed shop. "But sure, there's one about a mile away. But I have to ask you this: why do you feel like you can trust me, a stranger?"

"I don't know, but I just can," he replied, making to open the rear car door.

"At least ride shotgun," I offered. "That way I can keep an eye on you."

The teenager grinned amusedly as he climbed into the seat beside me, fastening his seatbelt and turning to face me.

"I'm Eren," he said extending his hand towards me. "Eren Jaeger. I'm 19 years old and I live a couple of streets away from here. My parents were both killed when I was very young, so I live with my adoptive sister, Mikasa, who is 21."

"I don't do handshakes," I said, declining his offer as politely as I knew how. "They call me Levi Ackerman. I'm 33 and I live alone in an apartment just around the corner. My parents were killed when I was about your age, so we have something in common there."

Eren appeared to be slightly in shock.

"Mikasa's surname is Ackerman as well!" he exclaimed, in my opinion, quite overly excited by the coincidence.

I decided to ignore this and drive him to the store, so that I could be rid of this irritating boy as quickly as possible. I turned the key and started the ignition, pressed my foot down onto the accelerator and drove down the kerb and onto the road with a gentle clunk. Once successfully onto the road, I picked up the pace, changing gear with a skilled movement of my bony hand, and spinning the steering wheel to take us around the corner. I spared a quick glance over my shoulder towards Eren, who was staring glassy-eyed out of the window, his mouth open in an exhilarated grin, apparently enjoying the speed at which I was driving.

I skidded around the final bend, possibly a little too cockily, and brought the car to an abrupt halt, almost sending Eren flying into the dashboard. He regained his composure and let himself out of the vehicle, carefully closing the door before turning around to speak to me.

"Thank you for the lift," he said, smiling in an almost pitiful manor. "I should be able to make it on my own from here."

I was about to nod in agreement and swiftly drive away, after all, it was past midnight, and my morning alarm would be rousing me in just six hours. However, something deep inside me prevented my foot from moving to the accelerator, and I felt a strangely unwelcome need to help the boy. But just as I was about to open my mouth and call him back, the shop doors closed behind him and I was left sitting in the middle of a dark, empty street. I was free to leave and resume my monotonous existence, yet something was holding me back. I stubbornly shook my head, ridding my head of even the mere thought that I cared for the boy. I was not the kind of person to form attachments, and certainly not just after meeting them. I knew nothing about this teenager! Even so, he was the first person in fifteen years to take any interest in my life... But that meant nothing. He had his own jobs to take care of, and he had yet to properly grow up. He had his sister to care for, in other words, he had something to live for. What did I have to live for? Wasn't I just clutter upon the earth's surface?

As these thoughts were racing through my mind, I glanced towards the shop again, searching for a distraction from the depression that was fast closing in. Surprisingly enough, I found one.


	2. Chapter 2

Through the slightly misted glass, I was able to observe what looked like a raucous group of people brawling in front of the tills. I leant closer to my window, trying to catch a glimpse of Eren's face. His bushy brown hair suddenly flashed across my vision and I appeared to lose all control, leaping out of the car and sprinting towards the shop without even locking my car.

What drove me to launch this solitary rescue mission, I will never know, but whatever it was filled me with a raging passion that I hadn't felt in over a decade. I ran towards the automatic doors and they granted me entrance, pulling aside a few seconds before I would have smashed into them. I was then able to view the true severity of the argument within.

Eren - who's shopping bag had been thrown to the floor - was struggling amid five tough looking men, two of which had hold of the terrified shop workers. The remaining three were throwing punch after punch towards Eren, who was valiantly dodging and attempting to rescue the captured women. My feet were rooted to the spot, and all I could do was stare into the fight, my eyes locked upon Eren's determined face. As he dodged a violently aimed kick from one of the larger men, his eyes found me and widened in shock, leaving him vulnerable to attack. Just as I had feared, he received a swift kick to the stomach and crumpled to the floor, his startled cry of my name escaping in a winded gasp.

My mind seemed to flood with white light as I ran blindly forward, throwing my weak body into the centre of the fight. All that happened from then on was a blur. The shop clerks were screaming, the men were shouting and swearing, Eren was screaming in pain and anger. The next thing I knew, I had hold of Eren by the back of his coat and I had somehow managed to pull him away.

We stumbled backwards, Eren clutching his cheek which was drenched in blood, and myself holding a hand out in front of us in an attempt to hold off the attackers. Miraculously this was effective, and I then felt safe enough to release my hold on Eren's collar, allowing him to sink to the floor by my feet. He reminded me of a wounded dog. I paid him no attention and instead turned to the five men, who had finally let go of the shaking, traumatized shop clerks. My eyes were as cool, dark and emotionless as usual, but my face was livid with fury. What right did a large group of men have to attack a teenage boy?

"What in god's name happened here?" I demanded, my voice steady yet furious. "Was there provocation? Were there insults? Answer me, damn it!"

I flashed an irritated look towards the shop assistants, one of which squeaked in fear and toppled over backwards, the other merely shaking her head in my direction. Eren seemed incapable of movement, let alone speech, so I was left with no choice but to confront the attackers. I glared at them with a steely glint in my eyes as I spoke.

"Answer the questions," I said, my voice coming out in a growl, reminiscent of a wolf's. "Who started this?"

"It was him," one of the men spat, pointing sharply towards the quivering bundle at my feet. "He tried to steal our credit cards!"

"Liars!" Eren coughed, blood spattering onto the floor as he struggled to his feet. "You were trying to rape those women!"

I quickly turned to stare at the shop clerks, who still appeared to be in a state of irreversible terror. I then had to consider my options. As I had managed to involve myself with this nonsense, I was taxed with the task of settling the matter, so choosing who to believe would be the best first step. I could believe the group of men, who in my opinion, looked like they belonged behind bars, regardless of what had happened today. Or alternatively, I could believe Eren. The young, caring teenager who would even talk to someone as cruel and heartless as me in an attempt to help. There wasn't even a choice to be made, the answer was simple.

"You lot," I said threateningly, pushing Eren roughly back onto his knees. "If you don't clear out and never set foot in here again, then I'll call the police right here and now. There are plenty of witnesses, and I can promise you, I'm not an easy man to overthrow. Go on! Get your unworthy backsides out of here."

The five men quickly exited the shop, and I watched them until their van had driven out of sight. The shop clerks let out a relieved sigh, sinking into chairs and breathing heavily. It wasn't long before one of them burst into tears and began crying uncontrollably into a handkerchief. At this, Eren jumped to his feet, wincing horribly as he hurried over to the woman, wrapping an arm around her shoulder to comfort her.

I slowly followed him, picking up his fallen shopping bag as I passed it. I pushed him roughly away from the clerk, thrusting the bag into his arms before smacking him hard around the face. He let out a startled gasp, staggering backwards several paces before raising his head to look directly into my eyes. I had never in my life met such a defiant little brat.

"You idiot," I scolded, shoving him ahead of me as I forced him out of the shop. "What on earth was that going to achieve? Why do you have to be so considerate? If it's not your problem, just walk away."

"I couldn't just let those two women be violated in front of me!" Eren exclaimed, frustrated tears pricking at his oceanic green eyes. "It would have been wrong! Better risk my own safety and save them, then allow them to be injured while I walk away!"

"You're wrong!" I yelled, stamping my foot irritably on the car park's tarmac. "Other people don't matter! If you have family, then fine, protect them. But random strangers are not worth your time. Why would you care about them? There's no point."

"That's a lie," Eren replied coldly. "I care about them because they are human beings just like me. They are people with personalities, dreams, and people they love. You didn't mean it when you said there's no point in caring. You ran into that shop to help me, and ended up saving two other people as well. Even you can't say that didn't mean anything to you."

"Shut up," I said heatedly, my voice low and dangerous. "You know nothing about me. Don't go judging me on what you saw in there. I lost sight of who I am so long ago that I am literally an empty shell, sitting around and waiting to die. If you have something that drives you to live on, then good for you. Keep out of my life, I don't want to drag anybody else down with me."

"Then you do care," Eren breathed, his stubborn energy finally lapsing as he dropped his gaze to the floor.

Silence fell between us, and the only sound I could hear was my own racing heartbeat, occasionally lessened by the smooth reverberation of a car speeding past us on the nearby road. Eren looked so forlorn standing before me, his coat ripped and stained, a shopping bag dangling sadly from his grazed hand. His cheekbones were bruised a pale purple and his lip was bleeding, a carmine trickle dripping onto his shirt and staining a puddle. He had a deep slash across the left side of his face, obviously inflicted by a knife, that was still soaking the ends of his hair in blood. Regret filled my thoughts as - for the first time in my adult life - I reflected back upon my actions, and reached the conclusion that I may have been a little too hard on the boy.

"Get in the car," I sighed, putting a hand on his shoulder and turning him in the direction of my parked vehicle.

Eren looked confusedly up at me, his head tilted slightly to the side, looking like a beaten-up puppy.

"I'm taking you back to my place," I explained, ushering him along the pavement. "You need some bandages and a change of clothes."

"But Mikasa will be worried about me; I was supposed to return home ages ago," Eren protested.

"She'll understand when she sees the state of you," I grunted, forcing him into the passenger seat and slamming the door resolutely closed.

As I fastened my seatbelt and began the drive towards my apartment, I tried to view this scene from Eren's point of view. As far as he knew, a man he had just met - who had previously yelled at him and whacked him around the face - was manhandling him into a car and driving him to an unknown house. To be honest, the situation could easily be viewed as pretty dodgy, but at least I can be fairly certain that I'm not going to do anything terrible to this kid. Well, that depends on how much he pisses me off.

Several minutes later, we swung around a corner and bumped up the kerb, coming to a jolty standstill just outside my apartment block. The building was a decent size, although it was dwarfed by the expensive and stylish edifices in the smarter part of town.

Eren let himself out of the car, and I half expected him to attempt an escape. On the contrary, he followed me obediently into the elevator, his breathing coming in pained gasps as we ascended. Once the lift had discontinued its journey, the rusty doors slid aside and I proceeded Eren out into the hall and towards my apartment door. I wrestled the key into the rusty lock and let myself in, closing the door after Eren and myself before locking it up again. You never know who might be roaming the corridors at this time of night.


	3. Chapter 3

I had to grope around both sides of the doorframe before I could finally find the light switch, clicking it and flooding the room with a dim light from the dirty overhead lamps. My living room was messy and cluttered, with a stained wooden table in the centre of it and an old, black leather settee pushed up against one wall. There was a tall bookcase, with CDs, dated textbooks, movies and porn magazines stacked high upon it. Beside that was a rickety wooden box with an aged DVD player and television set atop it, the remote precariously balanced on one corner. The grey carpet was dusty and neglected, as was the rest of the room. And the whole house, to be honest.

My kitchen was in a similar state of disrepair, dirty pans and dishes piled feet high in the sink, a three legged table sitting sadly in the centre of the cracked tile floor. My bathroom is the cleanest room in the house, but only for the simple reason that it's the room I use the most. Apart from the obvious additions of a toilet, sink and shower, there is also a towel rack which I use to dry my clothes on the rare occasions that I actually wash anything, and a tall cabinet in one corner. This reaches from the floor to the discoloured ceiling, and is stocked full of all my daily needs: paracetamol, cigarettes, aftershave, deodorant, and razor blades. However, personal needs aside, there is also a wide assortment of medical supplies in there somewhere, which were proving to be quite a challenge to find.

After forcing Eren down into the cushions of my settee, I hurried into the bathroom and began my search for bandages and antiseptic cream. I finally managed to locate both of these after several minutes searching, and I then proceeded to hurriedly grab a handful of clean clothes from the drying rack before I headed back into the living room. Eren was still seated where I had left him, although he had removed his coat and slung it over the arm of the sofa. The severity of his injuries were now even more apparent than ever, and even I winced a little in sympathy as I approached him. His eyes widened in fear as he noticed the knife in my hand, but I chuckled, setting my supplies down on the table and turning to face him.

"It's to cut the bandage roll," I explained, grabbing his chin a little roughly and tilting his head towards the light, so I was able to examine his wounds clearly.

Eren tried his best to keep his eyes locked upon my face as I reached behind me for the tube of cream, however as I began to apply the substance to his exposed scratches and grazes, he gasped in pain, squeezing his eyes tightly closed and biting down on his lip. The stuff had to sting, and I was being far from gentle with him, but pain inflicted with a good intention cannot be described as cruel. Even so, what would I care? The boy meant nothing to me. But if that was really true, then why was I tending to his injuries?

Eren squirmed again, a small whimper escaping his lips. I shook his collar in annoyance, sticking a plaster over the deepest gash in his cheek before moving on to his neck.

"Take your shirt off," I said, clearly enunciating this to be a command rather than a request.

Eren did as I asked, looking slightly apprehensive as he painstakingly grasped the lower hem of his white cotton top, peeling it over his head before throwing it down to join his discarded coat. It wasn't warm in the room, but despite this, a thin sheen of sweat coated his torso, probably a result of his previous exertions. His lower body wasn't badly harmed, although he had several blood smears along his collarbones, and an incarnadine slash along one side of his neck. I picked up the bandage roll, peeling a decent amount away and cutting through it easily with one quick flash of my knife. The silver metal flew easily through the air, creating a deep slit in the material before dropping all the way through and out onto the other side, floating back down onto the table. The sight of it made my stomach lurch with a sudden need to cut myself, but, for the first time since I had taken up the habit, I held myself back.

My hands shook a little from resisting as I wrapped the bandage around Eren's neck, tying it in a messy double knot. The antiseptic seemed to have soothed his pain, as his breathing was calm and relieved when I returned from the kitchen. In my hand I held a damp washcloth, intended for wiping the blood stains away from Eren's pale, bruised skin. I reached out towards him, but his hand blocked me. He was obviously feeling better...

"I can do that," he said confidently, taking the cloth from me and attempting to gently dab at his chest.

However, as he twisted his arm, the sore muscles and tendons screamed out in protest, causing Eren to cry out in agony himself. The washcloth fell to the floor with a sodden splat, tactfully covering up my satisfied smirk as my theory that he in fact, could not achieve this himself, was proved to be 100% accurate. Eren's face was contorted with pain as he tried to bring his shoulder back under control. I bent down and retrieved the cloth, unfolding it into a slightly ragged square and draping it over his throbbing joint. The cool temperature appeared to relieve the burning ache that Eren had previously suffered with as, the instant the material came into contact with his skin, a quiet sigh of contentment escaped him, and he shot me a fleeting, grateful look.

Once satisfied that there were no more bleeding wounds upon his body, I got to my feet, heading into the kitchen again and slinging a large, woollen blanket over the radiator. Don't judge; I bought it a few years ago when the central heating broke.

I waited beside it as the blanket warmed up, watching Eren out of the corner of my eye. He had calmed back down into his old self, and unbeknown to me, so had I. Why the heck had I been thinking, inviting this boy into my house? He had been so desperate to help me and be near me, that I might never have been rid of him! Damn, what a mistake. I suppose I only had myself to blame, but that's the norm for me.

I laid a hand experimentally upon the soft wool, confirmed it to be at the desired temperature, and picked it up, walking quickly back to Eren so that it didn't lose any heat. I placed it around his shoulders, watching him shudder slightly as the warmth enveloped him. He seized two corners and wrapped it tightly around his bare torso, directing a thankful smile in my direction. I ignored him, seating myself on the edge of the table after retrieving the television remote. My thumb pressed the power button, and the evening news flashed onto the dusty screen. Well, the early morning news... 1.30am and I was still awake. Boy, was I going to regret that in the morning.

Eren appeared to be uninterested by the news - even though there was a very attractive woman reading the report - and instead chose to fix his eyes upon the back of my head. I couldn't see him, but I could feel his stare, almost like it was burning a hole through my skull.

"I didn't notice you had earrings," he said, making me raise an eyebrow and spin around to face him.

I did indeed have two silver studs set into each earlobe, but still, what a strange topic of conversation.

"Yeah, I got them a few years ago," I replied, my voice flat and uninterested.

"Did they cost a lot?" Eren asked, defying my bored tone with his own cheerful aura.

"Not much, no," I said, still sticking to my stubborn drone. "Well, they clearly didn't, as I could afford them."

"I guess you don't earn great deal then?" inquired Eren, becoming increasingly irritating.

"You should be able to work that out by looking at the state of my apartment," I snapped, losing my temper as he put the pin upon the bane of my life. "Of course I don't earn very much. I live in what is practically a pile of radioactive rubble, I can barely afford food or clothing, taxes and house bills alone are enough to empty my bank account in a second, and any spare change I happen to pick up has to be spent on cigarettes and pocket knives to satisfy my god awful cravings! So the next time you think you're hard done by because you missed the school bus, or you didn't get everything you wanted for your birthday, just think about how lucky you are to have something to live for."

I was left breathless after my outburst, feeling slightly ashamed and angry with myself. What was it about this boy that caused me to let my guard down so easily? I had only known about his existence for a couple of hours, and I had already showed my true colours on countless occasions. Where was the emotionless, cold, cruel man I had to be? And who was this caring, brave, curious person that I had suddenly become? Many would say that getting into a fight and ending up with a strange teenager in their house, sums up one of the worst imaginable days. But for me, this was different. It felt like the start of a new era, turning my life around in a way that was completely and utterly out of my control. It scared me, but it also excited me, and made me wonder what the next few hours would bring. This thought confused me: that I was looking forward to something. I never looked forward to anything except when I could smoke my next cigarette.

I sighed resignedly, deciding that if my conscience was happy, then I'd better be happy as well, as there was no point denying the fact that I'd be a total bastard if I wasn't. But before I could open my mouth to apologise - yes, apologise, you heard me right - Eren said something that was almost inaudible.

"You just need something to live for..." he whispered, his hands dropping to his sides as the blanket fell to the floor. "I have my sister, and you have no one."

He appeared to be talking more to himself than to me, so I refrained from speaking, and instead watched him closely as he furrowed his brow, thinking hard about something. I could almost see the cogs in his brain turning. I wonder if he's good at school...

After what seemed like an eternity of silence in the room, apart from the sound of the neglected and ignored television set in the background, Eren finally spoke, startling me out of a reverie about my own terrible school years. I had not been good in school!

"Please, let me help you," he said, his eyes round and shimmering with enthusiasm.

I had a sudden flashback to a few hours previously, when I had been sitting in my car outside the convenience store, and Eren had said those exact words to me from the other side of the window. Now he was sitting just a few feet away from me in my own living room. I wondered if, every time I heard him say those five words, we would be a little closer together. I wouldn't have been at all surprised, what with the way things were going.

"I may be getting deja-vu here," I said, an unfamiliar tone of amusement creeping into my voice.

Eren laughed almost fondly before more clearly explaining himself.

"I want you to live a life you enjoy. Everyone should get that chance. I want to help you find something or someone to live for," he elucidated, a slight blush gracing his tanned face. "I know I only just met you, and that we're probably never going to see each other again after today. But I believe that you deserve a happy life, after all, you've been through so much."

I nodded slightly in solemn agreement, feeling myself zoning out as memories of my childhood came flooding back.

"I actually saw my parents die," I stated, wildly confused as to why I was venturing into this unpleasant tale. "I was 16. All three of us had been out for a fancy meal, and we were just heading home when this psychotic man leapt out in front of us, brandishing a knife. He demanded my mother hand over her handbag and jewellery, but she refused. As the man advanced towards her, my father blocked the way, protecting both of us. Then he was ordered to turn over his mobile phone and wallet to the mugger, and just like my mother, he refused. And that was it. The man - now a murderer - thrust his knife into my father's chest and killed him instantly. By that point my mother was screaming loudly enough for people on the other side of the world to hear us, but nobody came to our aid, and she too was stabbed to death. I hadn't been carrying any valuables so the mugger hadn't been interested in me, and as he was rooting through my dead parent's belongings, I managed to slide out of sight around the corner and run back home."

Eren looked absolutely horrified. His eyes were as round as saucers, and full of the traumatic visions he must have conjured up whilst listening to my unfortunate story. The memory of those terrible events had even begun to make me feel a little nauseous, so I quickly changed the subject, still driven to speak by this unknown force that was Eren Jaeger.

"How did your parents die?" I asked, only realising afterwards that this question could evoke some unwanted reminiscing.

Noticing the apprehensive look in my dark eyes, Eren smiled encouragingly, ridding himself of fear and sadness to also share with me the secrets of his past.

"I was 10, and Mikasa was 12," he began, fixing his eyes stubbornly upon the corner of the table, determined to hold back any tears. "We were travelling back home on a train after attending Mikasa's grandmother's funeral. I think I mentioned this before, but Mikasa is my adopted sister. Her parents were murdered in their own home, in a similar way to yours, when she was just 7, and we adopted her shortly after that when I was 5. Her grandmother wanted to care for her after the death of her parents, but she was far too ill to be granted the responsibility. Several years later, her sickness claimed her life and we travelled to the other end of the country to allow Mikasa to say her goodbyes. So as you can imagine, it was already a terribly sad day for us. That was when the ferocious storm commenced, and caused the train to derail. It rolled over at least fifty times, plummeting down a steep hill towards a ruined castle. Once it crashed into the stone bricks, its descent stopped, but most of the train's exterior had caved in, trapping the passengers the accident hadn't already killed. Mikasa and I had been separated from my parents during the fall - having miraculously survived - and we had to crawl through the wreckage, climbing over corpses and dying people as we went. It was enough to make any child mad, being trapped inside such a small space that stank of blood and death. If Mikasa hadn't remained calm, then I might have lost it completely. Anyway, once we found my parents, they were already dead. Mikasa dragged me away and managed to find an escape route out of the collapsed train. From there, we were taken into an orphanage where we lived up until a few months ago, when Mikasa became old enough to legally get a job and buy a house for us."

I didn't believe I'd ever heard anyone talk that much, for that long, and that descriptively ever before in my life! It was quite an impressive rendition of what was a drastically dreadful back-story. It was so horrific that I struggled to find my voice.

"That's some damn bad luck," I eventually spoke, my voice uncharacteristically sorrowful. "That's even worse than my story!"

"No, both stories are equally terrible, as we both lost people we loved. It doesn't matter how we lost them," Eren said, looking up into my eyes at last.

Why had I been craving that green stare for the whole duration of his tale? Why on earth did I long for this boy to scrutinize me and discover my secrets? It was a feeling similar to what I had felt when I'd smoked my first cigarette: new, strange and scary, but at the same time, exciting, thrilling and addictive. Evidently, that is the essence of Eren.

I glanced towards the clock hanging lopsidedly on the kitchen wall, feeling a sudden wave of tiredness wash over me. My stomach lurched as I realised that it was 2 o'clock in the morning, and the shrill ringing of my alarm was a mere four hours away. I turned my attention back to the teenager sitting on my sofa, and wracked my brains for something to say to him. I did not have a guest bedroom in my house, and there was no way in hell he was sleeping in my bed! But before I could voice any of these thoughts, Eren spoke up himself, probably after incorrectly deciphering the look in my eyes and believing that I wanted him to leave.

"I can walk home myself," he said, a little disheartened, getting to his feet and reaching for his blood stained shirt.

Once again, the incredible force that had taken hold of me when I had first met Eren, leapt into action once more, causing me to surge forward and seize his wrist. His green eyes betrayed his shock as he turned to look at me, his face so close to mine that I could almost see my own, sorry-looking appearance reflected in his sea green irises.

"You don't have to leave," I breathed, not entirely sure I was making much sense. "You can stay, I'd like it if you'd stay. I mean, if you want, then I can offer you a place to stay the night?"

Eren's previously confused face melted into a exultant smile, and it was only then that I felt safe enough to let go of his arm. His skin was warm and tanned, the complete opposite of my own pale, ice cold complexion. I mentally shook myself, and suddenly remembered the clean clothes I had fetched from the bathroom. I retrieved them from the table and dropped them haphazardly over Eren's head, half of them falling into his lap, and the remaining garments comically covering his face and making him look like a child who was struggling to learn to dress himself. The sight was so very quaint that I found myself laughing for the first time in years, watching Eren wrestle one of my tight, threadbare jumpers over his head.

I was a couple of inches taller than the teen, and I was certainly skinnier, so my clothes looked a little large on him. However they looked endearing and comfortable to wear, rather than appearing ridiculous. It was a cold November night, so the temperature was near freezing outside. Although, I had miraculously managed to pay my bills successfully this month, so the central heating was working perfectly, keeping the entire apartment enveloped in a contented, continuous warmth. This was a pleasure that I had not been able to appreciate until now. I was glad that I could finally enjoy something as simple as a comfortably warm house, and I only had Eren to thank. Even his presence was enough to suddenly brighten up my life and allow me to start to appreciate even the smallest privileges, and that was something that I was inexplicably grateful for.


	4. Chapter 4

"I can sleep out here on the sofa?" Eren asked, jolting me out of my daydream.

Wow, I really must have been tired if I was drifting off with another person in the room!

"Yeah, that'd work fine," I clarified, standing up and going to fetch some extra blankets from the bedroom.

After rummaging around under my unmade single bed for several minutes, I finally managed to locate my spare duvet, rolled up into a lazy ball and fastened together with a piece of frayed string. I tugged it free of the immense amount of boxes that were piled around it, blew some of the dust of the surface, and headed back into the living room. Eren had gathered together the stained cushions that lived on my settee and arranged them into what looked like a very comfortable bed. I cleared my throat as I entered the room, throwing the rolled up blanket in his general direction and smirking to myself as he floundered around to catch it.

"Make yourself comfortable," I yawned, stretching my arms high above my head as Eren unfolded the duvet. "That has a few holes in it, but it should do the job just fine."

The brown haired teen grinned as he sat down upon the pile of cushions, wrapping the torn blanket around his body and leaning into the padding of the sofa. The lights were already dim in the room, and I wasn't overly comfortable with leaving the house in complete darkness at the best of times. I ignored Eren's shout of 'goodnight' and headed into my own bedroom, closing the door behind me before I changed out of my work uniform. The uncomfortable outfit was already in desperate need of a wash and an iron, and yet I simply couldn't be bothered, so I discarded it into the usual indolent pile beside my bed. I exhaustedly stepped into a pair of loose black trousers and dragged my arms into a baggy black shirt, which had a low-cut collar but overlong sleeves. I had never bothered taking my earrings out before sleeping; so what if I got an infection? I was pretty much risking my life by cutting and smoking anyway, and they had been in there for so long that I wasn't even sure they would come out if I tried.

I heaved my weary body into my bed and sighed with relief, making sure to set my alarm clock for 6am before I closed my eyes and fell almost instantly into a heavy sleep. I am what you'd call an insomniac, and I am burdened with vividly realistic nightmares almost every single night. After 15 years I have learned to accept them, yet fighting them down is terrible taxing, hence why I was forced awake at 4am.

I leapt from my mattress with a strangled cry, drenched in sweat with my heart pounding in my chest. That dream had been one of the most lucidly traumatic visions I had seen in a while. My throat was dry, so I strode out towards the bathroom, creeping quietly so as not to wake Eren. I snuck a quick glance at him as I opened my bedroom door. He was sleeping peacefully, snuggled up on my sofa, breathing softly and regularly. It had been so many years since I had last seen another person in my house, that I had almost forgotton what it felt like. I found myself staring at Eren for countless minutes, wishing I could sleep as contentedly as he did, wishing I wasn't haunted by the memories of my childhood whenever I closed my eyes.

I shook my head, cursing under my breath to tear my gaze away from his face. I sternly walked myself into the bathroom, pinching the back of my hand to punish myself for what I had just allowed myself to do. Once in the bathroom, I ran my face under the tap, allowing the strength of the water to almost suffocate me before I pulled away, gasping. I dried my hair roughly with a nearby towel, still panting slightly. It hadn't been pleasant, but it had at least snapped me out of reminiscing about my previous dream.

The image of my parent's bodies, leaking blood onto the pavement, always came back to haunt me, even after so much time had passed. The murderer's frenzied, frenetic laughter rang through my ears as I was transported back into my sixteen year old body, forced to watch as both my mother and father savagely slaughtered right in front of my eyes.

I couldn't help but think that these constant visions were a reminder of my past, almost as if the world forbade me to forget and move on. It was cruel to keep me in a state of constant anxiety and pain, causing me to resort to cigarettes for some manor of relief. As it was, I had been forced to light up, keeping myself shut in the bathroom so as to avoid waking Eren with the scent of my smoke.

I hadn't smoked all day, due to the rule against it at my god forsaken workplace, so breathing in the sweet smell of relaxation felt even better than usual. I held the cigarette between my cracked lips, sucking on it gently as I let the nicotine wash away my pain.

The sparks seemed to die quicker than normal that night, and I soon found myself scooping the ashes into a little pile on the bathroom floor. I was half tempted to extract another and recommence my state of euphoric composure, when I remembered the time, and regrettably dragged myself back to bed.

I peered around the living room doorframe at Eren as I passed by. He had barely moved since I had last admired his face, and by that time I was only just coming down from my high, so I was able to appreciate him even more than I had ever thought possible. His soft brown hair flopped across his turquoise eyes, which were hidden by peaceful lids and long black lashes, gracefully caressing his face as his slow, deep breathing fluttered them back and forth.

Once again, I had to violently shake myself before I headed back into my bedroom, sliding beneath my blankets into my previously vacated place, which was still as warm and inviting as ever. I buried my head back into my pillows, punching them a few times to achieve my previous comfort, before closing my eyes and attempting to sleep. My stomach lurched slightly at the thought of revisiting my usual nightmares, but the faint image of Eren's serene face firmly fixed in the back of my mind was enough to put my worries to rest. If he could rest peacefully inside this apartment then so could I.

With a new found determination that seemed strangely inappropriate for the task at hand, I closed my eyes and shrugged the duvet over my shoulders, exhaling purposefully before attempting to separate my mind from reality, and instead venture into the world of the unconscious. It had always unsettled me, the fact that so many people in the world were all asleep at the same time, and that perhaps, unbeknown to our waking selves, we encountered one another whilst in a dream. Obviously no such thing has ever happened, but you can't blame an exhausted, overworked, self-harming man for having a wandering mind.

But after putting that aside, as well as my insomniac tendencies, I somehow managed to get a decent night's sleep. I think it was something to do with Eren's presence in my room, and the fact that he was wandering around inside a dream. I fell easily asleep because I was hoping to join him there, and although no such meeting occurred, I still managed to sleep soundly and without fear, for the three and a half hours I had before that wretched alarm clock started screaming.


	5. Chapter 5

I groaned resignedly, rolling over and turning myself into a human cocoon with my duvet as I smacked the vibrating device hard, successfully silenced it, and sent it plummeting off my precarious bedside table and onto the dusty grey carpet below. I grunted again as I hauled myself out of bed, miserably reaching for my work uniform as I glanced out of the window. The sun was only just rising above the horizon, and any light it gave off or the streetlamps had left, was instantly drowned by the torrential rain that was hammering against the glass pane, almost exactly describing my ominous mood.

After changing into the despicable red polo shirt and jeans I loathed with a passion, I made my way groggily into the bathroom, splashed my weary face with freezing cold water and dragged a broken comb through my unkempt hair, yawning constantly. I had been right, I seriously wished I hadn't been awake until 3.30am the previous day, but I couldn't for the life of me remember why I had been up that late... Luckily for me - or not so much - the memories of the night before came crashing into me. Literally crashing into me in the form of Eren Jaeger.

As I was exiting the bathroom, he made to enter it, and we crossed paths with a painful bump. Eren toppled over backwards and I swore loudly, rubbing the bump on the front of my head as the teen struggled to his feet.

"I'm sorry!" Eren stammered, breathless from the fall and out of his embarrassment. "I'm so sorry!"

"Tch..." I muttered, adjusting my shirt after the collision had caused it to travel up my stomach. "Don't sweat it. Just, remind me you're here a little less painfully next time."

Eren nodded vigorously, his eyes wide, a deep blush spreading quickly across his cheeks. I ignored this, and continued my course into the kitchen, delving into one of the only occupied cupboards in the room. After searching for something that wasn't months past it's sell-by date, I managed to rustle up two bowls of slightly soggy cornflakes, with milk that was only a bit off. I shouted Eren's name, feeling slightly awkward doing this as I had never called anyone in for breakfast before.

However, it was a perfectly successful endeavour, and Eren had come running to my side within seconds, his face aglow with hunger.

"I haven't eaten since yesterday afternoon!" he exclaimed, gleefully taking his bowl from me and beginning to eat greedily.

"Good for you," I replied tonelessly, picking up my own spoon and unenthusiastically eating a tiny morsel. "I haven't eaten in three days."

"Then hurry it up!" Eren laughed, his voice almost incomprehensible due to the immense amount of cereal he had shovelled into his mouth. "Aren't you supposed to be ravenous, if you haven't eaten for that long?"

"Nope," I said, reaching repetitively for my next helping. "I've been starving for so many years now that feeling hungry is just a way of life."

I looked up from my sodden cornflakes, and observed Eren eating with an exceedingly amused expression upon my face. It amazed me how one 19 year old boy could eat his way through a meal in less than a minute. Before I knew what had happened, Eren was pushing his empty bowl towards me, with just a few dregs of milk left swimming around at the bottom. I raised an eyebrow at him, causing the teen's face to glow pink again.

"Did I eat too much food?" he asked sheepishly, staring down at the chipped surface of my dilapidated kitchen table.

I shook my head, offering Eren my own, practically untouched, breakfast bowl. He snatched it from me eagerly, picking up his previously discarded spoon and recommencing his high speed eating.

I chuckled openly, and it almost felt like the muscles I used to smile were rusty, and I found myself picturing the image of an old mansion gate, coated in cobwebs, swinging open with a pained, ancient creak. Man, I really was starting to feel old. Although I suppose having a teenager in the house didn't help.

"By the way, when do you want me out of here?" Eren asked, almost on cue to my thoughts.

I took a quick glimpse out of the window before I answered him. It was still abysmal weather outside, with torrential rain and a howling gale, raging amidst dangerously dark clouds. I got the feeling than a brewing, unsettling thunderstorm might be on the way.

"I guess you can hang around for a while, until the weather calms down," I said, wondering why on earth I didn't just throw him out into the rain.

"Really? I'm not being a pest?" Eren inquired incredulously, once again adopting his confused puppy expression. "Don't you have to go to work?"

That was when the cunning smirk appeared on my face, which half alarmed and have intrigued the teen it was directed towards.

"That's right," I answered smugly, crossing my arms across my uniform clad chest in an oddly pleased manor. "I do have to go to work. You're coming with me."

I had expected Eren to be taken aback, annoyed, or disappointed. I had not been ready for his actual reaction.

"Are you serious?!" he cried, practically leaping about on the kitchen floor.

"Well of course, or I wouldn't have said it," I scoffed, hiding my true feelings of hilarity and... was it gratitude? "Now hurry your ass along and get dressed - you can borrow some clothes from my small, boring selection. We don't want to be late, my boss will have both our heads if we are."

Eren jumped to attention, and I half expected him to salute. Instead he nodded in a formal, business-like manor and immediately marched into my bedroom, knelt down beside the small wardrobe in which I stored my clothing, and began to root through it until he found something that was to his liking. Once that was complete, he proceeded into the bathroom, where he completed the fastest change of clothes I have ever seen in my life (around 25 seconds, if you were wondering) before hurrying back out to meet me. He scurried back to my side with an eager look upon his slightly bruised face, one that was reminiscent of a child who was about to set out on a trip to the theme park.

"When are we leaving?" he demanded, refraining from tugging on my sleeve in his anticipation.

I couldn't understand what he was so excited about. It was only work after all. Just another tedious, boring and pointless day at work.

"About now," I clarified, glancing at the clock just to make sure.

Eren raised a hand out in front of him, gesturing that I should lead him out of the house, just as I had lead him in. However, the boy's weird ways worked their magic again, and I found myself shaking my head to decline, indicating that he should take the lead.

"You go ahead," I said tiredly, nudging him encouragingly in the small of the back. "I'm shattered; you've got a better chance of remembering where I left the car."

Eren stumbled in front of me, taking the key from my hand with slightly shaking fingers and letting us out of the house. He struggled to close and reseal the worthless privacy of my apartment, so I lent my expertise in wrestling with the rather unreasonable front door and assisted in smashing it shut, our joint effort driving us both to exasperated laughter.

I couldn't remember the last time I laughed alongside another person, and I certainly couldn't remember the last time I invited anybody out somewhere. Even if it was only asking for assistance with my awful job, I still felt like I had taken a big step against my social anxieties that day, and that wasn't something I was going to forget lightly.

With Eren several paces ahead, we made our way out of the building and onto the rain washed streets, still with chilly water bucketing down from the deep purple clouds.

"It really looks like a storm," I marvelled, steering a distracted Eren away from stepping out directly in front of a passing bus. "We need to hurry up and get on the road."

As it turns out, Eren had no idea whatsoever where I had parked the car, so as a result, we both ended up wandering strangely around the streets, only to find that it had been right outside the apartment block. Fuming and terribly behind schedule, I unlocked the car and practically lifted Eren into his seat, nearly trapping his head as I slammed the door closed and sprinted around the front into my own chair. I jammed the key into its slot and started the ignition, listening to the car obediently coming to life and feeling the vibrations as I revved it experimentally. Even though I was hopelessly late for work, I found myself turning to Eren before I drove away from the kerb.

"You ready to go?" I asked him, unsure as to why I had uttered this pointless question.

Eren nodded, staring into my face with that happy, intoxicating stare that had somehow drawn me in. After receiving valid confirmation, I pressed my foot hard down onto the accelerator, causing the car to violently swing out onto the road, narrowly missing crashing into the car parked in front of us. Once I had driven us safely out onto the road and joined onto the flowing current of traffic, I took one hand away from the steering wheel and lit a cigarette from the packet I kept in the door pocket of my car. I opened the window to reveal a tiny gap where my smoke could escape, but not enough to allow the torrential rain outside to sneak into the warm interior and soak us.

Lucky for Eren that I had that cigarette, as it helped me to calm down enough so that I didn't lose it completely when we hit the usual rush hour traffic jam. As it was, I pummelled the horn on my steering wheel and cursed openly, revealing my frustration to anybody unfortunate enough to be walking to work amid this horrific downpour.

"Welcome to adult life," I groaned, staring at Eren for something to do. "It sucks. You're gonna love it."

Eren grinned, pulling the navy blue sweater that he had chosen closer up his neck as he burst out laughing. I have never seen anybody flash me a more radiant smile then he did then.


	6. Chapter 6

At least 30 minutes later, I sped into the car park of my workplace, leaping spectacularly out of the vehicle and wrestling Eren onto the tarmac surface. Flustered due to my unforgivable lateness, I completely forgot to lock the car, and ended up punching the teen in the back of the head when he reached for the key to do it himself. After hurriedly apologising the securing the car myself, I grasped Eren's arm firmly and dragged him into the fast food restaurant, barging my way behind the counter and into the staff room, much to the surprise of my colleagues.

"Levi!" my boss exclaimed, jumping to his feet and staring questioningly at Eren. "What kept you? Who's the kid?"

"Traffic," I said, responding singularly to his first question before pointing an identifying finger towards the teen behind me. "Eren."

"Oh, hello Eren," my boss continued, scratching his head in confusion. "Why are you here today?"

"I'm staying with Mr. Ackerman for a while, and he said he wanted me to come to work with him today. I suppose he didn't want me alone in his house," Eren replied sheepishly, hiding behind me as I moved around the room, collecting my stained apron from an unreliable hook on the wall. "Isn't that right, Mr. Ackerman?"

I raised an eyebrow incredulously at this; never in my life had I ever been referred to as 'Mr. Ackerman'. My response to this statement was clearly required, so I nodded curtly before turning to face Eren, and beckoning for him to follow me out of the room. I lead him into the back room of the restaurant, where everything smelled of grease and salt. That was unfortunately where I had to work.

"My job is to cook the food and divide it into portions, so that it can be instantly ready for any orders that come through," I explained, pointing to various items around the room. "If I ask you to do something, I need it done quickly, as if the production goes downhill at any point then there will be a commotion up front, and I won't get paid the tiny amount I need to live on."

Eren nodded enthusiastically, apparently believing that my job was somewhat important.

"It's nothing to get excited about," I said, handing him a chip scoop. "It'll get boring after a couple of hours, and we don't get to go home until 10 o'clock tonight."

"Oh, that reminds me," Eren piped up, following my instructions and beginning to shovel piles of chips into flimsy cardboard boxes. "Is there a phone here I could use? Only I really should call Mikasa, as she'll probably be panicking by now."

I pointed towards the staff room, not even needing to pay attention to my work, as my hands were so used to stuffing lettuce into hamburgers that I practically only had to say the word go. Eren jogged away, and it wasn't long before I could hear the faint sound of his slightly abashed voice seeping under the badly sealed door.

"Hey, Mikasa... Yes it's Eren. No I'm fine! Ah, look Mikasa, calm down... I - I'm honestly fine. Seriously chill! Oh for heaven's sake... Listen! I've been staying with a guy called Levi. No he hasn't done anything of the sort! We're fine, he's taken care of me. Actually I'm at work with him at the moment... No, not against my will. It's like I said, I'm fine. Yeah I'll be home later. Promise. Ok, see you then."

I heard a soft click as he hung up the phone, and I turned my attention back to my work, which for the first time in a long time, hadn't been doing itself. The hamburgers were a complete and utter disaster, and I realised with a groan that I would have to start all over again. Good thing I had Eren around to help me out.

But as the teen re-entered the room and hurried forward to help me preparing the burgers, I suddenly realised that the thought of going to work - or anywhere else, to be honest - without him, was something that made my stomach feel like it had just sunk into the earth's core. It was strange, but the thought of living life without him was a rather unpleasant one for me. In fact, I believed that I would do almost anything to ensure that he would never had to leave my side again...

"Woah! You just made a total mess of that!" Eren laughed, snatching the wrecked hamburger from my distracted hands and beginning to fix it.

His fingers had brushed against mine, and for some wild reason, my heart was thumping at twice its usual pace. What the heck was going on? It was so unlike me to form a fond attachment at all, let alone this quickly. Although, putting aside the fact that I was confused as to what I truly felt for this boy, all I knew was that my heart ached at even the mere thought of watching him walk out of my life. That surely meant I cared for him, right? Or maybe it was purely selfish. Maybe I just couldn't stand the thought of going on alone.

"Are you alright? You've spaced out completely," Eren asked, elbowing me in the ribs and snapping me out of my wonderings. "I thought you said we needed to do the jobs quickly, or there'd be a total uproar at the front desk."

"We do, I must just be tired," I replied, shrugging my thoughts away and plunging my hands back into the lettuce bowl. "Now hurry it along. We don't want you making a ton of mistakes, now do we?"

Eren chuckled, probably at my badly disguised reference to my own unfortunate incompetence this morning, and continued stuffing shreds of iceberg lettuce between hamburger buns and warm beef burgers, adding in the usual dose of fried onions and ketchup before boxing the result up neatly. I could barely believe my eyes. What had taken me several years of tedious training to accomplish, had taken Eren less than ten minutes! Grumbling profusely, I turned my attention back to my work, only to find that Eren had squirted dollops of ketchup onto my hands - probably while I had been lost in thought - and arranged them into a rather unintelligent looking grumpy face.

"Oy!" I exclaimed, wiping my hands on the front of his apron. "I'm not a burger, you know!"

Eren chuckled and waved the bottle in my face, taking the opportunity to throw a handful of crispy green leaves at me. I ducked and banged my head on the counter, crying out in surprise as Eren dropped a wet, cold piece of lettuce down the back of my shirt. I stood up and picked up the entire bowl, threatening to dump the contents over the giggling boy before me. He threw the bottle aside and shrieked loudly, taking off and running around the room, with me hot in pursuit. It looked rather like we would be getting very little work done that day.

Alas, quite the contrary, as after several hilarity filled minutes, we were quickly caught and scolded by my overbearing boss.

"You two!" he shouted angrily, striding into the room and glowing at the two of us. "What are you doing? We have a queue that is nearing 30 strong, and nobody is getting any food!"

I chose to ignore the man, turning back to my work with a slight aura of disappointment. Eren soon joined me and began preparing boxes of fried chicken. Once my boss was sure that our moment had passed, he turned and exited with an annoyed exclamation.

"I'm sorry, did I get you in trouble?" Eren asked concernedly, taking a flat cardboard cutting from me and beginning to fold it into a suitable shaped box.

"Don't sweat it," I responded, taking the completed box from him and shoving scoops of battered chicken into it. "There's no way they'd fire me. I'm the only one among the staff here who does this job."

We continued to work from there in silence, occasionally touching each other's hands as we exchanged packing materials. And as I worked I began to feel strange, almost I had indigestion. I couldn't work out if it was because I had just run around a small, cramped room, or because I was suddenly realising what it felt like to do my job alongside someone else, but whatever it was, it was something completely and utterly new. I wasn't sure about what the rest of my shift would bring, but all I knew was that it was the first time in my life I was actually enjoying a day at work.

And, yet again, it was all thanks to Eren Jaeger.


	7. Chapter 7

Thirteen hours later, I waved a unenthusiastic farewell to my colleagues and exited the building with Eren by my side. The day had been a horrible one, and it had only stopped raining an hour ago. I had half hoped that it would have kept pouring down forever, so that Eren would never have had to leave.

I shook my head violently as I unlocked the car; there was no point in wishing and wondering. But nonetheless, as we sped through the darkness back towards my apartment, I couldn't help but stare at him as he gazed out of the window, admiring the city surroundings like someone who had never been outside before. It warmed my heart, watching him, and that was a feeling that I never thought I would be prepared to let go of. Unfortunately for me, he was going to be taken from me sometime in the next few hours, and there was nothing I could do about it.

"Eren?" I asked, determined to get the answer to this question before we parted. "Why did you come over to my car last night?"

"Because I saw you cutting yourself and I really wanted to help," Eren responded, looking confused as to why I would even need to ask this question. "And it's like I said at the time: you looked like the kind of person who needed something to live for."

I could only muster a cautious nod in reply, keeping my eyes locked on the road ahead as they began to prick with unexpected tears. I was angry with myself for reacting this way, but the last time I had felt a loss this great was when my parents had died more than a decade ago. I was being stupid, Eren hadn't even left yet, and I wasn't about to waste our final minutes together crying.

Crying was only for the weak.

"What's wrong?"

Eren was looking at me with intent, and I suddenly realised that I had bitten my lip in an attempt to bring myself back to my senses.

"Nothing."

I was well aware that I had lied, but I was not about to admit the fact that I was afraid to lose someone who I had known for barely two days. So I drove on, every metre we covered bringing me closer to despair. What on earth was I going to do without this boy? He had brought a meaning into my life that I had never experiences before. But how to tell him? Should I even say anything? I had never been very skilled at sentimentality.

The car swung around the final bend and the apartment block loomed into sight, making me feel like I was walking to the gallows. Eren wasn't stupid. He seemed to have picked up on my gloom and was attempting to get to the bottom of the problem, although he did at least know me well enough to realise that forcing the matter on me could only result in me biting his head off. So instead he gazed towards me, an expression of pity and wonderment in his oceanic eyes. The depths of those green orbs seemed to pull me in like a whirlpool, and before I knew what had happened, I was spilling my heart out onto the startled looking teen.

"I don't want you to leave, I don't know if I can go on without you," I spluttered, my face turning bright red as I realised what I had just said. "I - I mean: I'd like to take you back to your house. Could you direct me?"

Eren nodded, but his lips were still slightly parted in surprise and his eyes were swimming with intrigue. He leant forward in his seat, pointing out of the windscreen towards where I should turn. I had not yet resigned myself to losing him, and finding out where he lived was the only chance I had left to keep in touch with him. And it had been a jolly good way to get myself out of an embarrassing situation.

I carefully memorised every street and tried to permanently burn Eren's directions into the lining of my brain. If anybody ever knew what had been running through my mind at that moment, they would believe me to be a very perverted stalker. Honestly! Who on earth chases obsessively after teenage boys?

Me. Apparently, I did that.

Eventually, we arrived down a small, clean street that was lined with small, yet nice looking houses. Cars were packed onto the pavements and parked outside almost every single home, but that did not take away from the essence of serenity and peace that I felt whilst driving through there. There was no room to park my own car, so I left it down the neighbouring street, following Eren slightly solemnly as he lead me back down his street.

It wasn't hard to identify which house he resided in, as outside a red brick building with a white door and porch, was an anxious looking young woman, dressed casually in a pink turtleneck sweater and jeans. Her shoulder length jet black hair was shiny and straight, although it looked as though it hadn't been brushed for a couple of days. Actually, as I thought about it, the more the woman looked as if she wasn't taking care of herself. Her clothes, although clean and in good condition, were creased and slightly stained around the cuffs. She was wearing house slippers and clutching onto a mobile phone so tightly, that I feared it would smash right there in the street.

"Eren!" she screamed, and leapt easily over her own garden gate as she hurtled towards us.

"Hey, Mikasa!" Eren responded, staggering backwards slightly as she flung her arms around his shoulders.

I reached out a hand to catch him, but the woman called Mikasa quickly pulled him out of my reach and looked him suspiciously up and down.

"So this is the man called Levi?" she asked, glaring at me slightly so that only I would notice.

Eren remained oblivious to her cold attitude and answered her question.

"Yeah, that's him. Didn't I tell you he was a nice guy?"

"I'm not so sure," she stated bluntly, staring at me with a distinctly domineering stance.

She had Eren standing slightly behind her, and her feet were apart, her hands stubbornly resting on her hips. The woman was pretty, I'm not denying that, but she instantly insisted upon disliking me from the very second we met, so naturally, I was inclined to abhor her as well.

"What's wrong with me? Do I look like a thug?" I asked, maybe a little teasingly.

"You're dressed in a fast food worker's uniform in the middle of the night, meaning you work a very long and worthless shift," she observed, displaying similar snoopy characteristics to the ones I saw in Eren.

However, I liked and appreciated Eren's nosiness a great deal more than hers.

"Your hair is overgrown and your face looks ill. Your lips are badly cracked, so I'm guessing you smoke, and I can see several self-inflicted blade scars on your wrists. So my answer is no, you don't appear like a thug. Although I am unlikely to simply trust a shady character such as you."

My head snapped around and I had to force myself not to growl at her. What right did she have to point out every fault upon my body? Maybe I did cut, maybe I did smoke, and maybe I did look unhealthy. But that did not give her the right to start criticising me because of it. That was a violation of basic human rights.

Then again, Eren did the exact same thing, and I let him stay in my house because of it. His adopted sister had clearly taught him his incredible analytic abilities, I was sure of this because of her sharp tongue and clever mind.

"What are you, a journalist?" I sneered, trying to win back some of my usual edge. "They're usually very good at sticking their noses into what doesn't concern them."

"Actually, I am a journalist," she replied smarmily, taking me completely by surprise. "I write for a popular newspaper and have made the front page many times, in case you were interested."

"I'm not," I laughed cruelly, slightly lost for more insults that I could use on her. "In fact, I couldn't be less interested in your stupid job."

Damn it, I had started to sound downright childish... Luckily, before Mikasa could spit out the angry retort that was brewing in the back of her mind, Eren decided to speak off and put our fight on hold.

"Could you two stop fighting for a singular second and give me a chance to explain things?" he implored, staring to my eyes and clearly instructing me to firmly close my mouth. "Right, thank you. First off, Mikasa, could you please not be so rude to someone who has taken care of me for nearly two days?"

Mikasa spluttered with rage, but decided to let her younger brother finish.

"And Levi. I would appreciate it if you wouldn't talk down about the job that is keeping me alive. It's the only money income we have, and without it I'd have starved by now."

"You're right. I guess I'm, sorry then," I muttered, astonished that I had actually uttered an apology out loud to another living being.

Mikasa nodded haughtily in my direction before turning to Eren, the expression in her steely grey eyes switching from shrewd, to caring and devoted within a nanosecond.

"Eren, I'm sorry if I offended you. I live only for you."

Wow, easy on the palaver, drama queen.

"Don't say that... But anyway, it's not me you offended. I want you to apologise to Levi. After all, he did say sorry to you," Eren said, looking into my face for my agreement.

"No, I'm used to people bitching at me," I said softly, slipping in a tactful little curse word that I knew Eren would miss, but that clearly infuriated Mikasa, much to my sadistic amusement.

"Very well Eren, I'd do anything for you. Even this..." Mikasa grudgingly sighed, stepping towards me and taking a deep breath. "I am sorry for any offence that my bluntness may have caused. I will make it my priority never to be so overbearing towards you again. But that shouldn't be difficult, as we shall never meet again. Now, if you don't mind, I will be taking my brother to safety now. Goodbye."

And with that rather melodramatic speech as her parting words, she seized Eren's arm and began dragging him towards their house, not even looking around as he began protesting.

"Wait, Mikasa! Stop!"

Eren flailed his arms, not once taking his eyes away from me. I felt something shatter within my heart as I watched his deep green gaze growing fainter and fainter, until it had been locked stubbornly behind a white, wooden door, never to be seen again. I tore myself away from the street, ignoring Eren's heartbreaking shouts of my name as he hammered earnestly on the front door.

I broke into a run as I reached the corner, practically throwing myself into my car and slamming the door after me. I buried my face in my hands, resting my elbows on my knees and squeezing my eyes tightly closed. The dark black orbs behind my eyelids were burning, filled with tears from losing Eren, and fuming with my anger at Mikasa. As far as I was concerned, it was entirely her fault that Eren was no longer a part of my life, as the teen himself had clearly been against retreating into the house. I yelled in my frustration, a continuous sound rather like a car's horn escaping from between my gritted teeth.

This brought back unwanted flashbacks about the time I had spent stuck in a traffic jam with Eren in the passenger seat. We had laughed and talked, and I had actually enjoyed the presence of a fellow human. Although I was forced to endure the company of my colleagues, I would rather see them at the bottom of their graves, than right there in front of my face.

My fingertips dug into my scalp in fury as I remembered Mikasa's snarky expression, and my ears burned with hatred as her malicious words echoed inside my head. Suddenly, an overwhelming need for Eren burst into life, almost taking control of me completely. I tried to fight it, but my efforts came to nothing, and I bit down hard upon my fist, drawing blood from one of my bony knuckles. The sight of the crimson liquid dripping onto my knees and soaking into my uniform trousers, relit a fire inside my chest that had almost completely burned out.

Yet, without Eren, I felt the uncontrollable urge to harm myself, and with a blade only two feet away from my slowly extending arm, this goal was not hard to achieve. I grasped the handle of my penknife tightly with a perfectly steady hand, and pressed the sharp edge of the blade into the stretched skin on my left wrist, puncturing the area between two pale scars. When I had first taken up cutting, my hand had always shaken and I had sworn when I slit myself, the pain almost bad enough to make me stop altogether. But after all these years, the sharp stab that sent spasms up my arm barely even registered with my brain, that was now damaged beyond repair.

And just to think, the only person I believed ever had a chance at fixing me, was locked behind a door on the neighbouring street. I hadn't felt so low and hopeless since I had lost my parents, on that cold winter's night. And as I thought about it, that breezy, dark November evening had turned out to be just as merciless.


	8. Chapter 8

The streetlamps around me flickered into light, and the rain began to leave drops on my windscreen. Blood trickled down my wrist and onto my knees, my knife safely stored back in the door pocket of my car. I stared helplessly out of the window, wondering if Eren would reach out to me again, like he had two nights ago, when I had also been several steps away from killing myself. Would suicide be so bad? It wouldn't be good, but what other options did I have? I was too afraid to go back to my apartment and delve back into my meaningless existence, so what choice did I have but to leave this world altogether?

But was that what I really wanted? Was I the kind of person who would just choose the easy way out, when there was a much better choice to hand? No, I wasn't. Sure, choosing to go on living would be tough. I had to work, I had to eat, and I had to pay bills. Being an adult was stressful, and for me it was horribly lonely. At least, up until the night when a certain bold teenager had wandered into my life. Eren had somehow lit up a path ahead of me that I was unable to stray from. I had to go on living, surviving on that one tiny hope that one day, just maybe, that path would lead me back to him.

I started the car and began to drive back towards my house, ignoring the throbbing pain in my wrist. The aftermath of my self-harm had never bothered me before. The only possibility would be that I was thinking of Eren, and that was something that hurt even more than physical injury. So much more.

After parking the car outside the apartment block, I headed back into my dreary home, and was instantly smothered in darkness as I locked the front door behind me. I must have been in such a hurry to go to work, that I forgot to set the automatic timer. Tut, tut... The heating was off too. Eren was such a damn distraction.

It was hard to have something so beautiful around and not admire it all the time. Wait, say what? Eren? Beautiful? Since when did I think such thoughts about guys? Of course I didn't, that was absurd.

I flicked the lights on and shook my head to rid myself of these wonderings. After spending several minutes in the kitchen preparing a strong cup of coffee, I sauntered back into the living room, setting my mug down on the coffee table, almost exactly where I had sat last night, tending to Eren's wounds, and collapsing onto the leather sofa, almost exactly where Eren had sat as I had applied cream and bandages to his injuries. I hope I had done an alright job, but then again, Mikasa would have disapproved of it even if I had been a fully qualified surgeon.

I took a sip of my coffee, the warmth from the drink spreading throughout my entire body, almost identical to that pleasant sensation that I experienced whilst sitting close to Eren. My hand twitched suddenly, reaching out towards the left side of me, where the empty side of the sofa was. No way. Was I getting withdrawal symptoms? Ridiculous, Eren was not a drug!

I placed the mug down again, hugging my knees to my chest and kicking my shoes lazily off onto the floor. I was exhausted and miserable, and far too preoccupied to turn on the television. It was past midnight again, and I just could not stop thinking about how, this time last night, I had been saying goodnight to Eren from the comfort of a strangely unreal environment. A happy home, I think it's called.

My hand leapt aside again, this time brushing against a soft fabric that I hadn't noticed before. I gripped it tightly and pulled it onto my lap, identifying it as my spare duvet, the one I had leant to Eren to sleep under. I grasped it firmly, my knuckles turning white, and hid my face within its soft folds, closing my eyes and covering my ears with my arms, attempting to shut out the world and transport myself to a better place. Anywhere in the world that Eren was.

I breathed in deeply, finding a trace of an unfamiliar scent still woven among the strands of the blanket.

Eren's scent.

I lost all bodily control, and found myself heaving all of the sofa's cushions on top of the blanket, before wrapping the fabric around them and creating some sort of heavenly parcel. This I pounced on, pressing my face into the bundle and breathing slowly, inhaling and exhaling in a state of ecstasy that neither cigarettes nor self-harm could bring to me. The place where Eren had slept smelled wonderful, and it was a sensation that I have never been able to describe. I closed my eyelids securely together and firmly pressed the pillows and blanket into my face, squashing my face without care. A single tear escaped from between my eyelashes and rolled down my face, stroking my cheek and travelling down my jaw line, eventually dropping off my chin and into my outstretched hand.

Eren. Where were you? Were you safe at home, or where you out in the world somewhere? Were you in danger? I needed you. I wanted you. The loneliness that I felt whilst apart from you was almost too much to bear, and it drove me to laying on the sofa, the pillow you had rested your head on pressed into my face, tears falling steadily from my eyes for the first time in years. I wasn't simply sad. I wasn't angry, happy, or confused. I was completely and utterly desperate for your company, in a way that words couldn't describe. So I let the salty teardrops do the talking, pooling on the pillow's surface and giving me a visual representation of my longing, and showing me just how much I had cared for you.

I eventually fell into an uneasy sleep, the blanket Eren had rested beneath draped haphazardly around my legs, my head stubbornly laid upon the pile of pillows. Little did I know that this one time I allowed my true colours to show, would be the start of a new era.

The next morning, I awoke late, after having the first fulfilling night's sleep in years. I hadn't suffered with the usual insomnia, and I hadn't been woken at 6am by that blasted alarm clock. I glanced at said device and my eyes widened in alarm. It was 11am, and I was 4 hours late for work. But I honestly didn't care: I had a plan.


	9. Chapter 9

I took my time getting dressed that morning, feeling absolutely disgusting after falling asleep in my work uniform. I fought them off and threw them into the dustbin in my kitchen. Not a bad shot... That's the last time I'll ever see those again! I flashed the bin a filthy look before heading into my bedroom, where I crouched down beside my wardrobe and began rooting about for something to wear. I eventually picked out a white woollen jumper with a low cut neck, a pair of slightly faded, skin tight denim jeans, and scuffed up black trainers. I threw the selection onto my bed and nodded approvingly, slinging them over my arm once again and proceeding into the bathroom. There I stared glumly at my reflection in the bathroom mirror, my entire body on display. What a sorry sight...

I was almost like a walking skeleton, with no muscle whatsoever and every single bone poking out awkwardly. My chest was weak and rising and falling evenly with my breathing, beneath that I could see each rib curving around my sides. My spine stuck out like a small mountain range and you could have easily fit a tennis ball between my shoulders and my protruding collarbones. When I compared my own appearance to Eren's shapely, toned physique, it made me want to curl up and hide from that horrible piece of reflective glass before me. I resisted, and promised myself that, along with a new lifestyle, I would be working on a new, healthier figure.

I quickly dressed myself and glanced at the clock. Half past eleven. I was so late to work that I could barely believe my own bluntness, but I had already decided. It was time to take my life back.

I took another look at myself in the mirror: at least the casually smart clothes I wore covered up my unpleasant, skeletal body. Although the tight jeans did not conceal my pole-like legs, that did not even brush together when I walked. I was in quite a state, and I hadn't been able to realise it until now.

The bathroom was my next destination, where I wrestled a comb through my hair until it almost lay flat against my head. I also brushed my teeth and checked the studs in my ears. I had been lazy and careless, and I was paying the price... The silver earrings had become ingrown into my earlobe, and trying to twist them loose was incredibly painful. Eventually, I collapsed onto the floor, panting and swearing, blood and puss dripping from my stinging ears. I quickly grabbed a towel, trying to avoid any of the unpleasant substances dripping onto my clean jumper.

After fifteen minutes of tormenting twisting, I had finally managed to remove my studs and left them to soak in a sink full of lukewarm water. I could only hope that they wouldn't rust, but it was about time I bought some new ones anyhow. After I had disinfected my ears with a stinging liquid that made me want to strangle people, I dove into a shoebox full of gothic-looking jewellery that I kept in the tall cabinet in the corner of the bathroom. I sorted through its contents, and eventually picked out a long, thin silver chain with a skull and crossbones metal pendant hanging from it. This I secured around my neck, with the addition of a black, collar-like necklace that I fastened just below my jaw. I admired my reflection with a satisfied smirk, placing my studs back into my tenable earlobes.

Wow, I looked like an entirely different man!

I spared a quick look towards the clock: 12pm. I was so late for work that it was hardly worth bothering, but if I was going to do this then I was doing it properly. And that definitely included quitting my job. So I strode out of the apartment block, feeling a cold barrier of November air hit me as I walked towards my car. I pushed through it, more determined and motivating than I could ever remember being before. Was it Eren I had to thank, yet again?

I clambered into my car and fastened my seatbelt, resisting the urge to retrieve my packet of cigarettes from the glove box. If what Mikasa had said was true, (although I had no idea why I was taking that callous bitch seriously) then my smoking habits were probably contributing to my ill health. I had seen enough television adverts to be able to say that for sure.

I started my car and drove the familiar route to the fast food restaurant, skidding into the car park at half my usual speed after benefiting from quite an enjoyable drive. My appearance in the staff room appeared to be quite a shock, especially considering I wasn't in my uniform.

"Finally, he appears," my boss snapped, storming over to me with an aura of fury. "What the hell kept you this time? More useless, time wasting teenagers?"

"Gentlemen," I stated, blatantly ignoring my fuming boss, and the outraged cries of the women in the room. "As of today, I am no longer employed."

"What?" my boss asked, his angry tone slightly impaired by his confusion.

"I quit," I continued. "I don't want to work in this dump anymore. So I won't. But unlike you bastards, I actually have a shred of courtesy in my body, so I came along to tell you in person. I don't want your stupid, worthless money anymore, so you can give it to someone else. I don't care that I'll go hungry for a while, I'm just glad to say that I can finally walk out of here for good!"

And with that, I left my astonished ex-colleagues behind me and walked with a spring in my step, all the way back to my car.

I breathed in the chilly Autumn air, with a newfound feeling of pride and happiness brewing within my unstable heart. I had finally done it. I was finally able to start reshaping and changing my life, shaping myself into a completely new Levi Ackerman. Someone who looked healthy and fit, someone who lived in a respectable, clean home and someone who had a job that meant something.

Instead of heading straight back to my apartment like I had originally planned, I decided to drive into town and do some shopping with the little money I had in my savings account. Being unemployed might mean that I would have to live without electricity for a few months until I found a new job, but it would all be worth it if I could finally become a decent person. I owed it to Eren, and to myself.

I parked my car in a sheltered parking lot and climbed out, sighing as the foul stench of petrol and other people filled my nostrils. I pointedly disliked public spaces, but I was prepared to endure them just long enough to pick up my desired supplies. My first destination was the supermarket, where I purchased enough dried and ready-prepared food to carry me through months without a fridge or an oven. I then headed towards the clothes shop, where I spent a vast majority of my money on a new pair of black laced boots, and a few cheaper jumpers, several of which were in bigger sizes so I could layer them on top of my current shirts. It was most likely going to be a cold winter, what with lacking in central heating and all that.

After depositing my purchased items into the boot of the car, I headed towards a bookstore, where I skilfully spent 25 minutes browsing through titles until I stumbled upon the perfect exercise regime for me. I bought it, feeling slightly nervous as the shop clerk took my money. She seemed to be sizing me up for some reason, and I didn't look like the kind of man who worked out regularly. Which would obviously fit, as I had never stepped into a gym in my life.

My last shopping exertion was the supermarket again, where I picked up more cleaning supplies than I had ever laid eyes on, let alone attempted to carry back to the car park. I heaved them into my jam packed boot and collapsed into the driver's seat, panting and cursing my own lack of physical fitness. Oh well, at least I had the items to do something about it now. There was no good simply sitting around feeling sorry for myself.

I felt as though I could achieve anything I set my mind to at that moment. Unfortunately, I wasn't nearly prepared for the surprise I received when I arrived back home.


	10. Chapter 10

I parked the car in its usual spot just outside the apartment building, and slung as many shopping bags as I could carry over one arm, leaving a hand free to unlock the door. I struggled up the staircase - as the elevator had evidently jammed overnight - and toppled over the penultimate step, sprawling in a mess of cleaning products and clothes directly outside my front door. I muttered obscenities as I got to my feet, glaring angrily towards my wrecked carrier bags as I began to pick up my fallen items. As I wrestled the key into the lock and awkwardly turned it around, I felt my shoulders twist painfully under the heavy burden and I almost fell straight over as the door swung open. I breathed a sigh of relief when I managed to hang onto my purchases, only to yelp with shock and leap about two feet in the air, sending them all crashing onto the carpet.

Shit. There was a person rummaging about in my kitchen cupboards.

It was too late to hide now, the cacophony that had ensued after my entrance had obviously drawn their attention towards me, and I soon found myself backing up fast as they advanced towards me, violently wielding a weapon. As they edged closer, I recognised it to be out of my own crockery collection. How embarrassing. I was about to be slain by my own knife.

"You," the intruder barked, his voice deep and rattling. "Do you live here?"

"Obviously," I replied, my voice surprisingly steady. "It's impolite to barge uninvited into other's homes."

The thief growled in annoyance, and a satisfied smirk curled around my lips. I could beat this bastard, I just had to go about it correctly. Now, no wrong moves...

"Get into the corner and don't move," he ordered, pointing the tip of the blade directly at my forehead. "Or I'll drive this knife seven inches into your skull."

"Calm down," I remarked, keeping my composure as I obediently retreated into the corner of the living room. "There's no need to resort to violence."

The man snarled in my direction, revealing an uneven row of unpleasantly yellowing teeth, before he stalked back into the kitchen, glancing over his shoulder every other step to make sure I had stayed put. I looked on incredulously as, right in front of my eyes, the man recommenced rooting around my kitchen, throwing aside what he didn't want and shoving my valuables into a black bin liner, that already sat, half-full on the tiled floor.

My microwave and kettle were most likely two of the many items that were inside it. I expected he had already trashed the rest of the house, due to the mass of stolen goods within his loot. The sheer cheek of him made me furious, but I knew that this was potentially a very dangerous situation. After all, I was being held hostage by a violent burglar.

I slipped a hand into the pocket of my jeans, trailing my fingers over the smooth handle of my trusty penknife. I was armed and I was prepared. All I had to do was find the perfect time to strike. I had to be careful, his knife was at least two times bigger than the one I had at hand, but I had experienced first-hand, the damage my little penknife could inflict, so I did not doubt it for a second. I flicked the blade open, being careful not to stab myself in the leg as I did so. My fingertips grazed the sharp edge of the blade, and I nodded in confirmation, steadying my stance slightly as I prepared to attack.

My target was about 10 metres away in the other room, with his back turned to the doorway. He was bent over with his head under the kitchen sink, so it was safe to say that he was reasonably distracted. However, there was a good chance that he would hear my approaching footsteps. I decided to run a quick test and coughed loudly, covering my mouth with my sleeve and looking sheepishly at the back of his head.

Tch, no reaction whatsoever. I guess this guy really was as thick as he looked.

As far as I was concerned, this gave me the all clear to win my apartment back, so I slowly withdrew my open knife and began to walk forward. I broke into a run just a few feet away from the kitchen door, before I launched myself onto the unsuspecting burglar's back, wrestling him easily into a headlock and cutting off his strangled cry of surprise.

The bin liner and the knife clattered to the floor as he staggered to stay upright, with me still clinging on around his neck.

"Where did you come from?!" he yelled, trying to throw me off.

Wow. How stupid could you get?

"You're going to turn around slowly," I breathed, extracting my knife and pressing the edge of my blade gently into his throat, opening a thin slit as a few drops of blood trickled down his neck. "And face me with your hands in the air. Then you will walk out of this apartment and never return. Do you understand?"

"Like hell I will!" he retorted, swinging around with a sudden show of strength. "I need this stuff to live!"

As did I, but whatever...

I leapt forward and blocked him from seizing my radio from on top of the kitchen counter. He let out a roar of rage and aimed a heavy kick to my stomach, which I unfortunately failed to dodge. I felt the wind knocked out of me as I was smashed up against the cupboards, handles sticking in my back as I slid to the floor. The thief cackled insanely as he continued to beat me up, the hard rubber soles of his shoes pulverising every inch of my body. I cried out in pain and frustration, my every attempt to get to my feet thwarted by his movements.

His foot came into contact with my nose, causing torrents of blood to spurt from it, filling my mouth and throat and choking me. I was pretty sure it wasn't broken, but I was too numb from shock and adrenalin to feel any pain regardless of the severity of my injuries. The burglar took my temporary shock as an opportunity to strike out, and he pulled a saucepan from an open cupboard, swinging it before him with complete disregard of his surroundings. It ricocheted off the corner of the kitchen table, rocketing out of control directly towards my chest. I span around to avoid it, and the hard metal crashed into my shoulder blades, causing a spasm of pain to shoot through my body for the first time.

I collapsed to the floor, my efforts completely exhausted. I thought I was going to die on my own kitchen tiles, and regardless whether I was ready for it or not, the fatal outcome seemed to be inevitable. However, the world then decided that it was time for a miracle. And that miracle arrived in the form of Eren Jaeger, sprinting through my open front door.

"Eren, no!" I cried, summoning my remaining breath to warn him to stay away.

But it was no good. Eren being Eren, wandered straight into the midst of the brawl, and was instantly struck by a tough blow from the madman's saucepan. An uncontrollable rage then filled me to the brim, and I leapt to my feet, my dark eyes flashing dangerously. I gripped my penknife tightly and charged towards the criminal who had taken Eren down, driving the knife into his chest with all the strength I could muster.

The thief screamed, clawing at his chest where blood was now pouring out of a deep wound just north of his heart. Damn, my accuracy was off.

Eren was bent double with pain, but I could still see the horrified look in his eyes, the dying man reflected in his wide green irises. Barely in control of my own body, I rushed forward as Eren collapsed onto the kitchen floor, extending a hand and allowing him to fall into my arms. He clutched at my knee as the burglar breathed his last, and as the man's head flopped backwards, let out a strangled sob and buried his face in my chest.

It felt like a dream to be able to see him again, let alone hold him close and stroke his hair gently as he cried into my shirt. I could guess this reaction was because of shock and possibly pain. As I comforted the teen I had missed so much, my head began to feel extremely heavy, and I leant back against the blood spattered cupboards, letting myself rest at last. The severity of my injuries suddenly became apparent to me, and the throbbing agony from my damaged nose, bruised shoulders, jarred neck, and crippled stomach began to overwhelm me. I couldn't let the pain take me over; I had to comfort Eren.

So I simply rested my chin on his head, and eventually let sleep claim me, just a few minutes after I sensed that Eren had also escaped to the land of dreams. The apartment door was wide open, my car was unlocked out on the street, cleaning supplies were scattered around my house and there was a corpse in my kitchen, but I didn't have the time to worry about any of that. Nothing life threw at me would be too hard to handle, as long as I had Eren by my side.

Wonderful, beautiful, amazing Eren.


	11. Chapter 11

I awoke several hours later to a horrendous headache, groaning as I pushed myself into a sitting position. During my rest, I had slid down the cupboards and onto the filthy kitchen floor, taking Eren with me. He had his head laid on my lap, and was still sleeping. I rubbed my eyes groggily, my shoulders twanging painfully at even that small movement. Waking Eren was the last thing I wanted to do at that moment, but my cleanliness instincts were kicking in and I suddenly became horribly aware of the fact that there was a dead body in my kitchen.

I carefully extracted my legs from beneath Eren's sleeping form, and regretfully let him lay on the blood stained kitchen tiles. God, we both desperately needed a shower.

I crept with trepidation towards the thief, flinching slightly as I saw the fatal wound I had inflicted upon him the previous night. Oh crap. I had killed somebody, I could be jailed for life. What did Eren think of me? Did he hate me? Was he afraid of me? If that was so, I couldn't even bare to think of the outcome.

I bent down to examine the corpse, but I was stopped in my tracks by somebody grabbing my jumper from behind.

"Thank you", Eren said, pulling me around to gaze into his eyes.

"For what?" I asked, determined not to show how relieved I was that he wasn't running away from me.

"For saving me," Eren continued. "I would be dead if you hadn't done that."

"Don't be stupid," I half snapped, feeling my neck crick as I looked at him. "I was protecting myself too."

"But that's a lie. I saw you slump against the cupboards when I ran in, you'd given up,"

Memories of the night before came flooding back into my mind, and I remembered the feeling of helplessness and hopelessness. Eren was right, I had given up. I decided to answer him wordlessly, and held out my hand, not overly sure why I did this. Eren looked quizzically at me for a second before he laid his palm on top of mine, and I closed my fingers around his. It was so warm, and it felt like we had become one being. Although it was strange too, as I had never held hands with someone before.

I lead Eren silently out of the room, only pulling slightly on his arm as he followed behind me. My shoulders were protesting painfully to this act, but I ignored them, my only desire being taking Eren to safety. We headed into the living room, where my purchases were still strewn across the floor. I also paid them no attention and sat down on the settee, helping Eren to sit beside me. Still gripping his hand tightly, I stared imploringly into his oceanic eyes, the words I had been trying so hard to hold back suddenly spilling out of my mouth.

"I missed you," I choked, unwelcome tears welling at the back of my throat. "You jackass Eren, I missed you."

Eren grinned widely as I tugged him into a rough hug, wrapping my arms tightly around his shoulders as if I would never let go. It actually took the teen several attempts to prise himself free, before he could reply to my confession.

"I missed you too," he whispered, replacing our embrace with a soft hand laid on my aching shoulder. "That's why I came over last night. Mikasa was out doing the shopping, and I managed to climb out of one of the downstairs windows. I wasn't sure where I wanted to go, I just wanted to escape the house. So I just walked the streets, and my feet took me here."

"You're such an idiot," I said, sniffing slightly as I tried not to break down. "You could have been killed, you know that? Damn it Eren, don't scare me like that again. I thought I was going to lose you. I can't lose you again, I just can't do it."

"And you don't have to," Eren whispered, squeezing my shoulders affectionately and causing me to hiss in slight discomfort. "I'm not going anywhere ever again. I'll have to keep living at home with Mikasa of course, but I promise we'll see each other again. I don't want to lose you either."

This time, it was Eren who wrapped his arms around me, burying his face into the crook of my neck. I dropped my head onto his shoulder, and a few tears leaked out of the corners of my eyes. They dripped onto the back of Eren's shirt, and I felt him smile slightly as the sensation reached him.

"What are you grinning at?" I half sobbed, half laughed.

Eren giggled, pulling away and gently wiping the tear tracks off my face with the edge of his thumb.

However, at that moment, our sentimentality was ruined by a sharp sound of disgust from outside in the hallway. I leapt to my feet, staring out of the open front door towards one of my neighbours: an elderly woman carrying a prissy-looking handbag. She was staring down her nose towards the jumble of items in the middle of my living room floor, and I flicked the middle finger at her as she walked away.

"You think we should tidy up a bit?" Eren asked, jumping off the sofa and coming to stand beside me, looking amusedly down upon the pile of cleaning products.

"This is nothing," I groaned, bending down and retrieving my clothing. "There's three times this much back in the car."

"What did you do, shop or something?" Eren asked cheekily, kneeling beside me and offering his assistance.

I elbowed him, perhaps a little too hard, as I sent him toppling backwards into the mountain of detergent and mops. He shrieked as I tickled his face with a feather duster, and dumped a heavy box of washing powder into his arms before I stood up and left him, squirming around on the carpet. I picked my car keys up from the table, even though it was already unlocked, and walked out of the front door, leaving Eren to pull it closed as he breathlessly ran after me. We hurried out onto the street, where we were met by a heavy gust of icy wind. Neither of us had coats on, so we sprinted around the car and delved into the boot as quickly as we could, hauling as many items as was possible to carry back up the stairs.

After repeating this twice - and remembering to lock the car - we finally collapsed onto the settee, cheeks bright pink from the icy wind. Despite our exertions, my living room now had three times the amount of crap piled into the corner, and there was still a dead body in the kitchen. We really should do something about that...

"We need a cover story," Eren piped up, voicing my exact thoughts. "Otherwise you could be arrested."

I nodded in agreement, waiting to see what he could come up with. A young mind would most likely be better at brainstorming than mine.

"How about we start by telling the truth, and saying that we had never seen the guy before. Last night, we were unpacking our shopping - which is a good excuse for the bin liner full of your things - and he staggered through the door we had forgotton to lock, already wounded and bleeding. We were just going to call an ambulance when he collapsed and died on the floor."

Eren's eyes shone with triumph, and I couldn't find a fault in his plan. Except for...

"But that doesn't really explain our injuries," I said, wracking my own brains.

"I don't have any visible damage," Eren explained, lifting his shirt and pointing to his stomach, where there was no injury to be seen. "And your nosebleed could have been caused when you passed out into the corner of the kitchen table, because you suddenly felt faint from the sight of the wounded man."

"Makes me seem like a bit of a pussy," I pondered, thinking the plan over. "But I can roll with it just for today. Good brainstorming, Eren."

The teen beamed happily and withdrew his mobile phone from his pocket. I glanced over his shoulder as he opened it, and noticed that he already had 65 missed calls from that over-protective Mikasa.

"Ok, can you act?" he asked, offering me his phone. "Whoever calls the police needs to be hysterical and completely in shock, so do you think you can do that better than me?"

I pretended to think for a moment, already with a mischievous plan formulating in my brain.

"I think you'll be better at acting than me... After I've done this!"

And with that I pounced upon him, knocking him to the floor and snatching the mobile out of his outstretched hand. Eren shrieked with surprise and tried to stand up, but my determination was not easily overthrown, and I began to tickle him all over. He squirmed beneath me, laughing until tears of mirth were pouring down his face. By that point, I was beginning to become tired myself, so I clambered off him with one final pinch of the cheek, and smugly dialled 999.

Eren was panting violently, sitting cross-legged on the carpet and glaring at me with a half furious, half exhilarated expression. I handed him the phone as it rang, smirking proudly as I heard an operator pick up, and Eren forced himself to enhance his flustered appearance.

"H - Hello? It's Eren Jaeger... The police please."

He continued to describe the events of the previous night with painful accuracy, telling the story perfectly and keeping up his terrified act. I prodded him in the stomach every other scentance, either causing him to gasp - which indicated horrifying memories - or utter a sound of exclamation - which showed that he was in shock. Between us, we made quite the team.

As I listened to Eren relay the drama we had endured, I suddenly realised what a terrible situation we were in at the moment. I had taken a life, we were both injured, my apartment was a wreck, and yet we still managed to smile. If I had arrived home to find that burglar without having first met Eren, then I would most likely have been killed. I knew it sounded ridiculous, but I truly believed that Eren had actually saved my life, just like I had saved his by attacking the man. The fact that I had committed murder to save the teen's precious life made it seem less of a crime to me, and I found it easier not to hate myself for becoming just as ruthless a killer as the criminal who had taken my parents from me.

Before I knew what had happened, Eren hung up the phone and turned to glare at me with a certain sense of comical fury.

"That's taking it way too far!" he exclaimed, kicking me in the shin as I burst out laughing. "Tickling me like that... Honestly, you would have eaten me alive if I've tried anything of the sort!"

I held my hands open wide to invite him to try, still disabled by my uncontrollable laughter. Eren took the chance and shoved me backwards onto the sofa, kneeling on top of me and making me pay for what I had done, repeating everything I had done to him with strange accuracy. Boy, his memory must be good.

I giggled - reminding myself of a small girl - and tried to push him off me, spasms travelling my body every time his fingertips grazed my skin. The sensation was odd, not painful and not pleasurable, but just enough to cause me to roll onto the floor in my , finally managing to reverse our positions.

"So what did they say?" I asked breathlessly, pinning Eren's wrists to the carpet to prevent him from continuing to tickle me.

"What did who say?" he wondered, making me want to bang my head against the wall.

"The police, you daft woodblock!" I exclaimed, poking his palm as realisation suddenly dawned upon his face.

"Oh them! They said the coroner will be here within an hour."

"Good. That gives us about 50 minutes to have some fun, before we have to act all hysterically traumatised again."

I grinned cheekily at Eren as I clambered off him, grabbing his arm and tugging him to his feet.

"There's not much point in tidying up the place, as it still needs to look like a crime scene," I explained, retrieving my new clothes from the pile of cleaning supplies. "But I can at least try these on!"

And with that, I dragged Eren into my bedroom, feeling as though I was a teenager again. Only when I had actually been living my youthful years like the boy I was pulling behind me, I had never had any friends to show off clothes in front of. I felt like I was living backwards, enjoying times with friends in my thirties. Regardless of when I was able to live these luxuries, I felt extremely lucky to be able to do them at all. And sharing special experiences with Eren was my life force at the moment, so I couldn't wait to get started.


	12. Chapter 12

I forced Eren to press his face into a pillow while I changed into my new outfit, clicking my fingers to tell him I was ready and twirling around comically, mimicking a group of giggling girls. Eren gasped as he looked at me, and I swear I saw tears welling up in his eyes.

"You look..." he faltered, walking over to me and straightening my skull pendant. "You look amazing! Like a totally different person! You can change, I know you can!"

I grinned widely at him, tucking the pendant stubbornly down my shirt so that it lay on my chest, just over my heart. It was warm from where Eren's hand had enclosed it, and it heated the skin above my rapidly beating organ, causing a tender feeling of bliss to circulate around my body. I tried to shake this off, but it rapidly intensified, alarming me slightly.

"What's wrong?" Eren asked, his hand still laid on my chest, almost as if he could feel my heart rate increase. "You look shocked."

All I could do was swallow hard, trying to rid myself of this strangely unknown feeling. I wouldn't say it was unwelcome, it was just different.

"Seriously, answer me," Eren commanded, sending jets of tingling heat spiralling down my legs.

What the hell had just happened?

But before I could even attempt to utter a reply, Eren leapt backwards, screaming a jumble of warnings and obscenities.

I turned hurriedly around, and was met by the staggering thief who I thought had been left dead in the kitchen. He was wielding a carving knife, and he struck me before I could even catch my horrified breath. He slashed the weapon deep into my stomach, blood spurting from it as I yelled with pain, collapsing backwards into the bed. My head felt dizzy and all I knew was agony, my hands instinctively grasping the wound tightly in an attempt to staunch the bleeding. Eren was crying and bellowing. He rushed forward, brandishing a penknife that he had found on my bedside table. I tried to shout to him to stop and run away, but the pain was restricting my voice, and I felt like I could lose consciousness at any second.

That guy was supposed to be dead. I watched him die. I killed him. How in god's name was he still alive?

Blurry shapes floated across my deteriorating vision as the pain from my side stabbed me viciously. Eren appeared to be locked in combat with the wounded burglar, who was clearly at least dying, due to the way he was staggering and misjudging his punches.

"Eren..." I groaned, sliding onto my side on the floor and letting the blood gush onto the carpet, a puddle quickly expanding from where I lay.

The pain was excruciating, but I barely noticed it any more. All I could hear was a high-pitched buzzing, and before I knew what had happened, I had slid into sleep, my head bursting with agony before finally going blank.

"..."

My eyes flickered open as a searing headache washed over me, causing me to wince with a loud exclamation of: "Crap."

Within a second, somebody had thrown themselves onto my chest, knocking what little breath I had out of me, and starting to sob loudly, clinging onto the pillows behind my head. Huh, pillows?

I pushed myself up onto my elbows, shoving the snivelling wreck off onto the floor, and staring around the room. I was in a cheap looking hospital ward, with too many wires to count attached to my wrist, face, chest and stomach. It was early morning, and there was sunlight streaming through the open window. I was not wearing my previous outfit, and my stomach felt stiff and sticky, as though someone had glued it together. I pulled my hospital pyjama shirt up, oblivious to my company's sounds of protest, and my eyes widened in shock. Where there had previously been a two inch gasp along my upper abdomen, there was now a clean scarred cut, neatly stitched together. How long had I been out? What happened to my apartment? What about the thief that had miraculously risen from the dead? And, most importantly, where was Eren?

That question was answered by a sudden spirited bundle of soft, brown hair, leaping into my face. Eren!

"You're alive," he wailed, clutching onto me until his fingernails penetrated my pyjamas and created small rips in the fabric. "You're not dead, you're ok."

"Well I would have thought that question would answer itself," I murmured sceptically, fondly ruffling Eren's hair as he cried into my chest. "Hey, little brat, don't cry. I'm fine."

The teen raised his head, pityful tear tracks etched into his face. He gulped sadly, trying to regain what little composure he had. I chuckled at him, and grasped the roots of his hair, lifting him insistently away from the edge of the bed, where he was in danger of tugging on my catheter. Ouch...

"What happened back at the apartment?" I asked, my head starting to pound from the confusion. "Where am I? What time is it?"

"Calm down, your condition has only just stabilized!" Eren gasped, rushing forward and laying a hand reassuringly on my arm. "I'll tell you the story, but then I really need to go fetch a nurse. Okay. After you were injured, you passed out and I started fighting the thief. Turns out, he had only been pretending to be dead, so that he could launch that exact surprise attack."

"Sneaky bastard," I muttered, smirking at Eren's raised eyebrow. "He did a damn good job of fake death too. Almost had me believing that I was going to die."

"Well that's the scary part," Eren continued solemnly. "I managed to knock the guy out and only sprained my leg a little, but when I turned to see if you were alright, I checked your pulse... And your heart had stopped."

"Hell," I exclaimed, suddenly feeling more conscious of my body than ever before. "So the bugger really did finish me off."

"Don't joke about it!" Eren snapped, emotion filling his voice. "I thought I was going to have a heart attack myself, I was so petrified. I tried to bring you back myself, but luckily the police arrived shortly after, and they brought the paramedics and the coroner along with them. The nurses managed to restart your heart before they rushed you here. The burglar was also in a ward here up until a few days ago, and he's now in prison. The apartment is still an absolute wreck, but I locked the door and held onto the keys."

"Hang on, did you say the guy was taken out of here a few days ago?" I asked, only just beginning to fit the pieces together in my head. "So how long have I been out for?"

"Just over a week," Eren replied, his hands starting to shake. "We thought you'd never wake up. I was so scared, I haven't eaten for days."

"That's not good, you'll lose your brilliant form," I murmured, instantly regretting what I had just said.

"What was that?" Eren breathed, gazing into my eyes with an almost undeniable inquiry.

But before I could utter my slightly humiliated response, a young nurse entered the room, carrying a clipboard and pencil and looking slightly flustered. Upon seeing that I was awake, she gave a startled squeak, and rushed to my bedside.

"When did he wake up?" she asked, acting as if I wasn't even visible. "Stupid boy, you should have come straight to us."

"I'm sorry," Eren whispered, looking slightly alarmed.

"Don't you dare turn on him," I growled, becoming even more frustrated as she continued to ignore me.

"How long ago did he come round?" she questioned, poising herself to write down Eren's every word.

"Um, about fifteen minutes ago," Eren replied, glancing guiltily towards me.

"What were his first words upon regaining consciousness?"

"I think he made a snarky comment, and called me a little brat..."

"Has he complained about anything?"

"No."

"Is he in any pain?"

"Not as far as I can tell."

This was the final straw. How on earth was Eren supposed to respond to questions that only I knew the answers to?!

"Would you acknowledge my existence, for crying out loud?" I snapped, startling the nurse as she paused in her scribbling. "I can actually give you legitimate answers to most of these! No I'm not in any pain, and you can be sure of the fact that, if I was, I would be sure to complain about it. My first words were telling Eren off for asking a rhetorical question and yes, I did call him a brat. Now could someone please get me off these wires so I can go back home?"

"I'm afraid that won't be possible, sir," the nurse said haughtily, apparently less than pleased with my angry outburst.

Blimey; sir?!

"And why not?"

"Because you were seriously injured, Mr. Ackerman."

Jesus, I must have been some kind of overlord in the place!

"You have to rest," the nurse ordered, pushing me firmly back down onto my pillows with a long nailed hand. "I will send a doctor in tomorrow to check on your wound."

"Wait, tomorrow?" I yelled, alarmed out of my mind. "You mean I'm staying overnight?"

"You are required to stay in the hospital until your wound has properly healed," the nurse coldly explained. "Which is expected to be at least a week."

"A week!" I yelped, sitting up violently and causing pain to shoot through my abdomen. "There's no way I'm staying here for a week!"

The nurse ignored me, walking out of the room and closing the glass doors behind her, shooting me a resentful glare over her shoulder as she left. Eren scurried back to my side, watching her back until she had stormed out of sight.

"The hell was all that?" I asked grumpily, shifting my pillows so I could sit comfortably upright. "I thought nurses were supposed to be friendly and helpful."

"Yeah, I forgot to mention her," Eren mumbled. "When I first rushed you in here, she was working at the reception desk, so she saw how upset I was when they took you away for emergency surgery. She made me a cup of tea and reassured me that you'd be alright, but the whole time she was apparently trying to seduce me. I didn't notice because I was in such a panic, but she had unbuttoned her uniform shirt to reveal most of her cleavage, and she kept sitting in provocative ways beside me on the arms of my chair."

I felt a stab of jealousy surge through my body, and I felt an overwhelming urge to punch that nurse. Luckily for her, I was held captive in bed by the excessive amount of wires.

"Did she do anything to you?" I asked, that dangerous glint returning to my dark eyes.

"No! When she admitted her advances onto me I turned her down," Eren replied, blushing scarlet. "That's probably why she doesn't like you very much."

My heart felt like it was going to cease to beat again, even considering that I had only partly understood his unsteady words.

"What did you just say?" I whispered, going into the beginning stages of severe shock.

"Nothing! I didn't say anything!" Eren cried, tripping backwards and sprawling onto the ward floor in his haste to escape from our conversation. "I'm going to go and, um... Get some coffee! Would you like some?"

I shook my head, my expression totally blank as I watched Eren stumble awkwardly out of the door. What the hell had he meant when he had said 'that's probably why she doesn't like you'? My serene naivety was enough to make me laugh out loud, but at the time I had absolutely no clue, despite Eren's painfully obvious hints on the subject.

I watched him hurrying down the hallway towards the waiting room, and managed to keep my eyes on him as he retrieved himself a cardboard cup of coffee from the machine beside the reception desk, before sideling back into my ward. By that time I had managed to struggle my raging mind into a state of submission, and was completely prepared to begin questioning Eren.

"What were you saying?" I asked, bombarding him with inquiries the second he re-entered the room.

"When?" Eren replied, attempting to play the fool.

"Don't think you're going to escape the topic, I'm not so ill that I've lost my memory," I scoffed, smirking slightly as Eren's face glowed pink again. "Answer me. Why does that nurse have a grudge against me?"

"Because," Eren sighed, kneeling beside my bed and resting his coffee free hand on my bed sheet covered thigh. "I told her I couldn't be her boyfriend... Because I'm falling in love... With you."

I choked on my spit.


	13. Chapter 13

My head was spinning and I was struggling for breath. The area of my leg that Eren's hand was lain upon felt warm and fuzzy, and my heart was now racing at the speed of light. Eren hadn't spoken another word, and I had held my silence, creating an awkward pause in conversation. I was unwilling to become trapped within it, so I decided to speak first.

"Eren... I don't know what to say to that," I muttered.

God damn it. Much good that did in starting up a conversation.

"Well then, let me say something," Eren continued apprehensively, his nerves showing in his expression and voice. "Ever since I first saw you across the street that night, I could feel something I'd never felt before. I was determined to get to know you so that I could maybe find out what it was that had hit me so hard, and after a week of visiting you in the hospital all day every day, sitting beside you and staring at your face, I finally decided what I had felt, and was still feeling. I realised that I was falling for you. I'm so sorry, but it just slipped out."

"Don't you apologise," I said, a slight rumble in my voice.

"But!" Eren stuttered.

"Just... Don't," I breathed, firmly keeping his hand in place as he went to remove it from the edge of my leg.

Eren's eyes were swimming with tears, and the sight of it invoked something deep within me that I never knew I could feel: a strong rush of care for the teen. I wanted to apologise for never realising his desires sooner, I wanted to tell him it would be alright, and I wanted to assure him that I would always allow him to stay by my side. However I simply could not find words significant enough to describe these wishes. So instead, I wrapped a hand around the back of Eren's neck and pulled him into a rough, inexperienced kiss, moving purely off instinct and knocking our teeth together out of incompetence. Eren let out a small, endearing squeak of surprise before he wrestled his hand free of my leg and pressed his lips harder into mine, his free hand tightly grasping the ends of my hair.

We broke apart a few seconds later, feeling confused, satisfied, and yet slightly ashamed of what we had just done. Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that I would give my first kiss to another boy.

"Is that a yes?" Eren asked, slightly breathlessly.

"I don't understand..." I began to explain. "A yes to what?"

Eren smiled gently and laid his hand on top of mine.

"You really have no clue do you?" he chuckled, gazing fondly into my eyes.

"No clue about what?!" I exclaimed, feeling a small grin expand over my pale face. "I honestly have no idea what you're talking about!"

But at that moment, the frightfully infuriating nurse stalked into the room, looking characteristically haughty as she unknowingly interrupted us.

"Your skin is flushed," she told Eren, slamming a breakfast tray down upon my bedside table. "Why is that?"

"Mind your own business," I snapped, reaching out and seizing a piece of toast.

The nurse snorted indignantly before storming out of the ward, practically slamming the door behind her. Boy was she pissed.

"You want some?" I asked, offering my half eaten toast towards Eren.

He nodded eagerly, leaning forward and taking an enormous bite, almost pulling the piece right out of my hand. As it was, I let go, and watched it dangling cutely from the side of Eren's mouth, before he grabbed it and finished it off in two swift chomps. I chuckled as I watched him hungrily scoff four more slices of toast from my tray, and wash them down with his cooling cup of coffee.

"What are you, a human vacuum cleaner?" I joked, nibbling at piece. "And on a different note, what time is it?"

"It just passed 11 am," Eren answered, matter-of-factly checking the watch that was fastened around his tanned wrist. "Why?"

"I don't know, I'm very disorientated at the moment," I sighed, leaning back into the pillows and wincing as the wound in my stomach unpleasantly stabbed me with pain. "Kind of lost track of time, what with being out and unaware of my surroundings for so long. Was it a week, you said?"

Eren nodded, tears welling up in the corner of his deep green eyes again.

"Don't start crying again," I said exasperatedly, tugging his sleeve until he collapsed forwards onto the bed beside me. "Look, I'm fine now. There's no point being sad over something that happened in the past, you'll just waste your life that way."

I had attempted not to make a direct reference to my own futile existence, and yet Eren had still picked up on it, and decided to squeeze my hand tightly and comfortingly, resting his head on my lap. He must have been exhausted, as he fell into a light sleep shortly afterwards, his knees and lower body curled into a bundle on the ward floor, and his chest, arms and beautiful face were lain across my blankets. I stroked his hair soothingly until his breathing became deep and slow, at which point I found my own eyelids starting to droop. I yawned widely, punching the pillows behind me into a more comfortable position as my body went limp. The lingering stress from that eventful night had clearly taken a toll on my weak body, and when I finally fell asleep, I had the best nap that I could remember having. And for the umpteenth time, this was all down to Eren.

It was sunset by the time my eyes flickered open, my neck stiff after sleeping in such an awkward position, my vision slightly burry from sleep. I rubbed them vigorously with the back of my right hand, as the left was still nested in Eren's fluffy chocolate locks. I looked around the room, the pleasant heat from my lap calming me considerably. My wound was itching awfully, which was possibly an indication that it was starting to heal. Although it was terribly infuriating, regardless of its intentions, and I had to wait for the blasted doctor to arrive and make his assumption anyhow. And speaking of doctors, where was that annoying nurse?

I glanced around the room and could not find any trace of her ever having entered it, except for a tray of lunch that had been unceremoniously balanced atop the previously used breakfast tray, and both appeared to be in great danger of collapsing and tipping their contents onto Eren. I shifted myself, torn between wanting to save the teen from a cascade of crockery, and not wanting to disturb his sleep. I decided to ignore the latter, and lunged sideways, just in time to safely scoop the lunch tray out of harm's way, and to shove the empty breakfast tray securely back onto the bedside table. This had unfortunately woken Eren, and he began to stir into life as I curiously examined the lunch arrangement, among which was what looked like a carefully folded, hand-written note.

"What's that?" Eren asked sleepily, raising his head and flattening his slightly fuzzy hair.

"Dear young Mr. Jaeger," I incredulously read aloud, rustling the note irritably back to its original, slightly creased, A5 size. "After careful examination of the form you submitted when you first arrived here ten days ago, I have come to understand that you are 19 years of age and currently living with your adoptive sister. As you may have noticed, I have found myself to be rather interested in you, so therefore I have been a little dismissive towards your companion. I apologise. However despite this, I was hoping that you would consent to accompany me to a small restaurant tonight, where we could get to know each other better. My name is Yokubo Kankoshi, I'm 21 years old, and I have been working at this hospital for just over six months. I am a fully qualified nurse (obviously) and I currently live alone, 10 miles from here, with only two goldfish and a small white cat for company. My shift ends at nine o'clock tonight, so I would be able to meet you outside the hospital at 9.15pm. I can drive us to the restaurant. Please respond to my request when I return later this evening to deliver dinner to Mr. Ackerman, to whom I wish a speedy recovery. Sincerely, Nurse Kankoshi."

Silence fell in the ward for several minutes after I finished the monologue, before I could no longer contain myself and snorted with laughter.

"Well, that's the most ridiculously formal way to ask anybody out I think I've ever seen!" I howled, cracking up even more as Eren took the letter from me and began to look rather worried.

"I don't want to do it!" he wailed, almost causing me to topple out of my bed. "How do I get out of it?!"

"You'll just have to deny her when she comes back tonight," I said, regaining control of myself and selecting a sandwich from the lunch tray. "Yokubo Kankoshi... Seems like a bit of a whore to me."

Eren nodded enthusiastically, scrunching the note into a tight ball and pitching it expertly into the dustbin beside the door.

"Seems like a lot of a whore to me."

I giggled at this remark, my chest aching from mirth as I wondered if I had ever laughed this hard before in my life. Certainly not since I was very young, at any rate.


	14. Chapter 14

"Want some lunch?" I offered, holding out the tray of various sandwiches as I wondered if this hospital served anything other than bread. "I won't eat a lot, don't have much of an appetite yet."

Eren nodded in understanding, helping himself to a ham sandwich and taking an enormous bite. I chuckled; apparently sleeping all afternoon really takes it out of you.

My head spun around as there was a sharp knock on the misted glass doors of the ward, and Yokubo Kankoshi sidled into the room, carrying yet another tray that was laden with sandwiches. She started as she noticed that we hadn't yet finished the previous course, but decided to proceed into the room and deposit the tray precariously atop the breakfast. By that time, I had thought of several things to say to her. I felt like warning Eren to cover his ears...

"Would you stop doing that?" I snapped, catching the slipping tray for the second time in ten minutes. "They're going to fall and make a mess if you pile them like that. At least take away the empty one, or set the new one down on, I don't know, another table?!"

Yokubo ignored me, striding across the room to draw the curtains, concealing the beautiful orange sunset from my eyes without my consent. I will admit that this slightly pissed me off. She could have at least had the courtesy to ask first.

"I've got a bone to pick with you, missy," I spat, making the young nurse jump and turn to glare in my direction. "What the hell's your problem? Sending Eren a note to ask him out on a date... Honestly, it's obvious you're just horny for a pile of teenage love."

Yokubo spluttered in surprise and outrage, apparently lost for a spiteful comment to throw at me. Huh, that made a change.

"And at any rate, can't you tell that he's not remotely interested?" I continued, a gleeful smirk upon my face as she began to turn purple with rage. "Your note indicated that you might have had a clue. But even so, it's disgraceful, coming onto him like that when he was distressed and vulnerable. I can't do much about it now, what with being bedridden, mortally wounded and all that, but I can promise you: if I'd been there on the night, I would have thoroughly kicked your ass."

The nurse gasped in horror, and I could almost see the smoke billowing out of her crimson ears as she stood there, fuming. Eren cowered awkwardly between us, the tension in the room obviously too much for him to handle. He made to leave the room, but Yokubo strode forward and tightly grasped his arm to prevent this, Eren yelping slightly as her long nails dug into his inner arm. I gasped in ire, wrath slowly bubbling in my chest like lava in an erupting volcano. If I hadn't been tied down with wires at that moment, then I'm sure I would have flown at her with a velocity and ferocity similar to that of an insanely rabid dog.

(Apologies for the metaphor overload.)

"Get your good for nothing hands away from my Eren," I growled, leaning forward into a fight-ready position, hurriedly tossing my blankets aside.

"Oh yeah?" the nurse nastily sneered, wrenching Eren's hand up towards her face and causing him to wince as she tugged at his tender shoulder. "And what are you going to do about it?"

"Press the emergency button at my bedside and call a doctor in here, whom I will then rat you out to," I replied triumphantly, reaching for the red button and allowing my thumb to hover centimetres away from it. "Now I won't say it again. Let Eren go."

Yokubo reluctantly released Eren's arm, glaring into my eyes with tears shimmering within her own.

"It's not fair," she sobbed, reminding me of a small schoolgirl who had just failed at getting her own way. "I love him. Why can't you see that?"

"Because it's not there to see," I said bluntly, causing the young nurse to cough pathetically and make a sound of utmost despair. "You clearly just have a lust-crush, and within a few days of our departure, you will have found somebody new to obsess over. Eren is young and, unlike you, still has a wonderful and amazing life ahead of him. You just ruined yours by attempting to take advantage of an innocent teenager, who has never put a foot wrong. You are a disgrace to humanity, and if you don't get out of this room immediately, I will have no choice but to press this button and report you to the authorities."

Yokubo gave one last pityful wail of anger and frustration before she ran from the room, pushing Eren in the chest on her way out and slamming the glass doors behind her.

Eren staggered, tried to regain his balance, and failed. Before I could even attempt to catch him he had fallen backwards into the bedside table, sending the continuously ignored breakfast tray flying on top of him. He crumpled onto the floor for a few seconds before he could raise his head, which turned out to be such a comical sight that I just could not help myself from laughing. He had the lid of a teapot balanced absurdly atop his head, a cold toast crust sticking out of his shirt collar, and a smear of honey across one cheek. The tray and several plates and ceramic mugs had miraculously not smashed, and were rolling around on the floor by his feet. I offered a hand to help him up but he ignored it, hurrying to his feet and snorting with amusement as he caught sight of his reflection in the glass doors.

"Come here," I grinned, beckoning to him as he removed the toast crust and teapot lid from his clothing.

He knelt down beside me and I pulled his face towards mine, leaning in and trailing my tongue tentatively across his cheek, cleaning the sweet honey from his face before I pulled him into a soft kiss, the sugary taste lingering on my lips. Eren resented as I pulled away, but nodded in enjoyment as he swallowed a little honey.

"Tastes good," he smiled, stroking my collarbone with a teasing fingertip. "But not as good as that kiss."

"It was nothing special," I mumbled, blushing slightly and turning away.

"Every second that I can see your beautiful face is special to me," Eren whispered, causing my heart to skip several beats. "It doesn't matter what we're doing. I hate not being with you. That's why I stayed at the hospital every day and every night, even when your eyes wouldn't open, and even when you wouldn't breathe. I was so scared to lose you, so scared that I would never be able to see your smile again, that I could barely think or control myself. My phone went flat a week ago, but for once I don't care that Mikasa doesn't even know where I am. As long as I'm with you, nothing else matters."

"Eren, that's enough," I breathed, stroking his hair gently as emotional tears began to leak out of the corners of his eyes. "Don't get all upset again, you know I don't know how to handle it."

Eren nodded understandingly, wiping his cheeks dry with the edge of his sleeve as he settled into a seated position beside my bed.

"At least go get a chair!" I exclaimed.

"No," Eren mumbled, resting his head on the side of the mattress and closing his eyes. "I've slept here every night since we arrived here, and it's perfectly comfortable."

My mouth opened slightly in speechless shock as these words registered with me. So Eren had literally stayed beside me throughout my entire struggle for survival...

"Okay then," I whispered, brushing his fringe out of his face before I settled back onto my own pillows, resting one hand on the teen's shoulder as I slowly drifted into sleep.

It was only a pity we couldn't watch the sun set.

When I awoke the next morning, Eren had already left and the sun was streaming through the drawn curtains, flooding the room with a bright morning light which quite frankly damaged my sleep-filled eyes. I glanced over at the calendar that hug opposite my bed, clarifying that it was a Sunday. Normally on Sundays, I liked to saver my one day of freedom and thoroughly enjoy it by pursuing a favourite pastime of mine: staying stubbornly in bed. However, an overwhelming urge to see Eren's face had nestled firmly within me, and I suddenly became immensely frustrated by the amount of wires that were preventing me from fulfilling this desire. I cursed under my breath, looking down at my skeletal body and hating myself for what I was. My inner arms were striped with vicious scars from my obsessive habit, each and every bone in my body protruded ungainly, my hair was straggly, overgrown and unkempt, and I had an ugly scar that stretched across from one hip to the other, marking and displaying my failure to protect Eren. If it hadn't been for his own quick wit, then the one ray of hope in my world would have been lost for all eternity, and it would have been entirely my fault.

I lowered my head in a rush of unwelcome shame and remorse, but was thankfully interrupted by a heavy breakfast tray that had already been left on the bedside table - which had thankfully been cleared of the remaining clutter at some point during the night. I didn't like the thought of people coming into the room whilst Eren and I were sleeping, but so long as that terribly perverted nurse kept her nose out, then I would attempt to make my peace with it. However, Yokubo Kankoshi had caused me to doubt and mistrust hospital staff even more than I previously had, and I sincerely hoped that she wasn't the one who had delivered my breakfast this morning.

Upon closer inspection of the tray, I found there to be several bites missing from the egg-soaked bread that had been served, and I smiled to myself as I imagined Eren sneaking a mouthful before he headed out of the room. I snatched a couple of slices and nibbled on the edges, nodding in approval at their pleasant taste. Although, I had to admit, that nothing tasted anywhere as good as Eren. His skin, his lips, both were like little pieces of heaven, brought into being in the form of the angel that was the young teen whom I was slowly falling for.

Almost on cue, Eren then entered the room, smiling happily once he noticed I was awake and depositing an empty coffee cup on the bedside table before he headed over to greet me. He took me completely off guard as he leant in and kissed me, a quick fleeting motion that left me disappointed, after having uttered a squeak of indignation and surprise. Eren grinned smugly as my face began to glow pink, before he enthusiastically sat down at the foot of my bed, causing the springs to bounce about, jolting me into a sitting position.

"Good morning!" Eren said brightly, wiping a few droplets of coffee off his chin with the back of a hand. "Did you sleep well?"

"As well as I ever do, I suppose," I responded, wondering why on earth he was in such a good mood.

"Good, good," Eren mused, nodding placidly. "Did you have any dreams?"

Ah, we might be getting closer to the root of his cheery aura.

"Not that I can remember," I answered, my brow furrowed in curiosity.

"Well I did," Eren squeaked, his face flushing with excitement. "And it was a dirty one!"

Well that perked my interest! And something else that I am too refined to mention...

"Yeah? Go on."

"You were in it! It being the bed of course. Actually, both you and I were in the bed. Doing stuff..."

I coughed slightly, looking around to check that nobody was listening in on our ever so slightly personal conversation.

"Do I want to ask for more detail?!" I sheepishly inquired, forcing myself to stop imaging what Eren must have seen in that dream.

"No, you probably don't," Eren smirked, looking way too pleased with himself.

"I can roll with that," I mumbled, ripping my second slice of toast in half.

Yep, this hospital definitely serves nothing but bread.


	15. Chapter 15

There was a loud knock on the glass doors before a foreign, middle-aged doctor entered the room, smiling cheerfully and carrying a thick file under one arm.

"Good morning, Mr. Ackerman," he greeted, respectfully standing a few feet away from my bed. "Are you well?"

Now this was more like the hospital service I had been expecting!

"Apart from this darn gash in my stomach, I'm doing ok," I joked, feeling continuously more comfortable as the doctor smiled amusedly.

"Sarcastic as always..." Eren sighed, shaking his head in disbelief at my attitude.

Both the doctor and I ignored him.

"My name is Dr. Striker," he introduced himself, stepping forward to brusquely shake my offered hand. "I'm originally from America, and I came to Japan twenty years ago after graduating medical school in the US."

"Your Japanese is pretty good," I complimented, shuddering at the thought of my almost non-existent English skills. "For someone who doesn't speak it as their first language."

"Thank you," Dr. Striker beamed, opening his file and extracting a form and pencil. "Now, if you please, we must be getting down to business. You have been gravely wounded, Mr. Ackerman, and pretty out of it to say the least. So you deserve to know exactly what happened. Please read through this paper, this ought to tell you everything. If you have any questions, then don't hesitate to ask."

I took the document from him and skim read it, my brain starting to hurt as I tried to decipher the shorthand and terrible doctor's handwriting. After understanding as much as possible of my dramatic ordeal, I handed the paper back to Dr. Striker, my head still spinning slightly.

"Are you happy with that?" the doctor inquired, tucking my medical record safely back into the file.

I nodded in confirmation, taking a swig from the nearby coffee mug.

"That's great," Dr. Striker continued, carefully fastening the file. "Now, if you don't mind, I need to examine your wound."

"Go ahead," I replied lazily, pushing back the blankets and lifting my shirt to give him the all clear.

His fingertips were freezing cold, and they made a nasty contrast with his hot breath as he leant uncomfortably close. However, when he straightened up, he wore a surprisingly pleased look on his face.

"This has healed much faster than we expected!" he exclaimed incredulously, clapping his hands together almost absent-mindedly. "You should only need to stay here for a couple more days before we can take your stitches out, and then discharge you!"

I frowned at Eren; embarrassingly confused by this 'medical jargon'.

"Remove all of your internal organs," Eren whispered, by means of a translation.

I gasped with horror, leaping backwards away from the doctor in utter shock. Eren burst out laughing, rolling around on the carpet as I glared at him, and Dr. Striker oversaw the scene, looking increasingly confused.

"I'm only messing with your head!" Eren chuckled, dodging the punch that I aimed at his face. "It means, let you go back home."

I coughed loudly, trying desperately to redeem myself after that rather humiliating incident.

"Ok, good. So what can I do in the meantime?" I asked, elbowing Eren triumphantly in the ribs as he walked past as I sought my revenge. "I'm sick to death of sitting in this bed."

"I think it is now safe for us to take you off the drip, as you are now eating and drinking perfectly fine by yourself. We can also remove all of these monitors and attach portable ones instead, just so we can keep a close eye on your heart rate and blood pressure," the doctor explained, stepping forward to begin such tasks. "You might feel a sharp tug as I take out the catheter, but there shouldn't be any major pain."

He was right, I hardly felt anything as the thick needle slid out of my body, but removing the sensory patches was a different matter. They had been attached to my limbs and chest for so long, that they had almost become a part of my being. The fine, dark hair on my arms had stuck unpleasantly to them, and the doctor ripped them off as mercilessly as it seemed possible, taking no consideration to my yelps and muffled swear words. Once this nasty procedure has been completed, Dr. Striker exited the room, leaving me feeling slightly raw and violated, with several small patches of angry, inflamed skin dotted around my chest and inner arms. These had irritated my cutting scars.

"Well, that's good isn't it?" Eren asked happily, sitting down on the foot of my bed as I gingerly swung my legs over the side. "The doctor said you can walk around the hospital a bit! Should be less boring, eh?"

"Sure," I replied, not entirely paying attention to his words.

I always dreaded getting out of bed, having to begin a new day and live my life once again. But those times had been different, this time I was actually afraid to set foot on the ground, not because I would have to go to work or anything trivial like that, but because I wasn't entirely sure if my coma-weakened legs would hold my weight. Eren seemed to notice a flash of fear in my eyes, as he crept up behind me and supported my shoulders, smiling encouragingly as he applied a reassuring pressure, letting me know silently that he would catch me if I fell. I took a deep breath and began to stand up, my unsteady knees shaking as I extended them, widening my arms out like a bird to regain my balance.

I finally wobbled to a standstill, Eren supporting me gently from behind, my arms still held out absurdly far from my sides. I had done it. Even a minor achievement like learning to stand again seemed important to me. It was like a tiny step toward a new me; a new life.

"Want to try and walk?" Eren asked, nudging me slightly from behind.

"Okay, let's do it," I nodded determinedly, raising one foot from the floor and setting it down a few feet from the stationary one.

That wasn't so hard...

I started to quicken the pace, until I had comfortably walked all the way across the room and over to the glass doors, only realising when I turned around that Eren had long released me.

"Great job!" he exclaimed, jogging over to meet me and politely sliding the door open. "Shall we go to the cafe? I'm starving."

"You're always starving," I chuckled fondly, ruffling the teen's hair as I followed him down the hospital hallway.

The place was decent sized, impeccably clean and organised, and I found myself staring slightly in awe as I walked past perfectly clear windows, gazing down into the beautifully managed flower gardens below. Eren lead me down corridor after corridor, taking a quick one minute detour into an elevator before we appeared in the hospital cafeteria. It was a neat looking place, with several waitresses wandering around the circular tables and comfortable chairs, serving meals and drinks to patients and visitors alike. It may just have been my imagination, but this hospital seemed to have a habit of hiring young women with slim waists and an unbelievable large bosom

Eren took me to a table and pulled out my chair, shoving my knees under the table after I sat down with an eagerness that I had only ever known him to possess when there was food around. He clicked his fingers together expectantly, summoning a blonde waitress, who appeared as instantly as if she had teleported to our table.

"I'd like the usual," he requested, winking at her as she made a quick note on her pad.

"I'll have a black coffee and a cinnamon bagel," I said, the idea popping into my head as I watched a waitress - a tall brunette - presenting the exact same meal to the small group of elderly men sitting beside us.

"Alright, is that all?"

We both nodded and watched her back as she walked away into what I assumed was the kitchen. Eren turned to me with a wide grin on his face.

"Try and guess what my usual order is!" he dared me, a childish aura of hyperactivity surrounding him.

I had never been very good at games, nor handling mental children for that matter, so in a rash attempt to calm him, I leaned over and kissed him, tactfully slipping my tongue into his mouth when he gasped in surprise. Eren melted into this movement, copying my actions with even more grace and skill, miraculously managing to dominate over me within seconds, despite the fact that I had been the one to initiate this sudden moment of lust.

Lord, would Yokubo Kankoshi be pissed if she had been around to witness that!

I broke apart from the kiss, smirking at Eren's flushed, crimson cheeks as a sudden idea popped into my head.

"Chocolate and jam doughnut," I decided, pondering on his chosen drink. "And a strawberry milkshake."

Eren spluttered in shock, and it took him a few minutes to gather himself before he could answer me.

"That's exactly right!" he yelled enthusiastically, causing several people around us to turn their heads and stare. "How did you do that?"

"There was something in that kiss," I mumbled, staring over the top of his head towards the kitchen as my stomach began to rumble. "You tasted vaguely like doughnuts."

Eren was cracking up by the time our food finally arrived, and he had to stifle a few hysterical snorts before he could thank the waitress. Despite feeling like I'd been starved to death, I found myself picking at my bagel after draining the coffee in one, ending up slightly left behind as Eren polished off every single crumb on his plate in less than 2 minutes.

"How do you do that?" I incredulously asked, finally managing to take a proper bite of my bagel and continuing with my voice slightly muffled by this hindrance. "You're like a wild dog, or something."

Eren giggled, snaking a hand between my elbows propped on the table and pinching half of my bagel. I kicked him heartily under the table as he squashed it whole into his mouth, and grinned with amusement, finishing off what was left of my food.

"Where do we pay?" I asked, getting to my feet and finding myself to be much more stable after eating.

"You don't have to," Eren replied, following my lead, vacating his seat and tucking in both my ignored chair and his own. "You're a hospital client, they pay for you. Me, on the other hand... Yuuki?! Catch!"

He lobbed a handful of cash across the cafeteria in the direction of the blonde waitress who had served us. If I had been seated anywhere near him then I may have been tempted to dive under the table and shriek, but the customers and workers alike seemed to be perfectly accustomed to this rather dangerous technique. Yuuki - the blonde - raised her hand without even looking up from her work, and expertly caught every single coin as they fell into her palm.

"See you tomorrow!" Eren called, grabbing my arm and pulling me jovially out of the room and back out into the halls.

"Do you pay like that every time?" I asked, following an exceedingly cheerful Eren down the corridors as he jogged ahead of me and occasionally twirling around, bouncing off the walls like a rubber ball.

I swear to god, he was high on sugar.

"Yeah, I do! I hit a few people in the face on my first try, but they got better at catching in the end, and I got better at throwing."

I could think of no words to use or snide comments that I could make at that point, so I simply followed in silence, forcibly steering Eren in the right direction as he buzzed towards an incorrect turn or door. Once we had reached my ward again though, he appeared to have calmed down, and collapsed onto the bed from a sudden feeling of exhaustion.

"Oy, that's my spot," I joked, prodding him until he rolled off and onto the floor.

Eren stumbled into a sitting position at the foot of my bed, cross-legged and looking slightly anxious about something.

"What's up with you?" I asked.

"Um... I want to talk to you about something," Eren answered, biting his lip and rocking back and forth on his ankles. "I want to talk about us."

"Go ahead," I replied, my intrigue having been sparked by this request.

"Look, Levi, you mean the whole world to me, and a life without you just isn't worth living. I fell in love with you totally by accident, and that time I spent thinking I would have to go on without you was the worst thing that has ever happened to me, including losing my parents. I want to be with you forever, I want to love you forever, and I want to see you forever. I don't even really understand what I'm feeling just yet, but every second I spend with you is priceless to me, and I want to know you more."

My heart had almost stopped dead at these words, and I felt unwelcome tears filling my dark eyes. I shook them away, and decided to say something myself, not wanting Eren to feel like our relationship was one-sided.

"Eren, I want you by my side too. You've stayed with me this long, and that is something that I am determined to repay. I don't want to lose you. I don't understand love any more than you do, but you're teaching me to care about people again, and over time I will be able to love you. I promise. Those couple of days that I spent alone in my apartment, knowing that you were just out of my reach, were literal torture for me. I can't live without you. I won't. Every day with you is an adventure: sometimes it's scary, sometimes it's sad, sometimes it's fun, and sometimes it's heavenly. But no matter what, it's always worth it, just to spend that day with you."

Eren was not as good at preventing tears as I was. He broke down instantly, throwing himself on top of me and bawling into my hospital pyjamas, catching me slightly off guard. His words were barely audible, but they still tugged at my heartstrings once they were uttered.

"I'll teach you, we can learn to love together. It'll be hard, really hard, but I won't run from it. I love you."

"Love you too," I whispered, holding him close and squeezing my eyes shut.

Right there at that moment, awkwardly crammed against the head of the bed, was the happiest I had ever been. Eren made me feel that way, and I never wanted to stop feeling it.

Thank you, Eren.. You gave me a reason to live.


	16. Chapter 16

Eventually, the steady stream of tears soaking into my shoulder ground to a halt, and Eren raised his damp face, snivelling through the aftermath of our little heart-to-heart. As usual, I wiped the salty stains away from his soft cheeks, smiling gently as his eyes slid closed. He was clearly still very tired, which was to be expected, after barely sleeping for a week and a half. If it hadn't been for that reason, then I may have been harder on him when he fell asleep on top of me just a few minutes later.

I sighed resignedly and tenderly wrapped my arms around him in a warm embrace, closing my own eyes heavily, and eventually drifting off myself. When I awoke, I noticed that a thin, woollen blanket had been draped over the both of us, and I fiddled with it as Eren slowly roused himself.

"Sorry," he muttered, rubbing his eyes cutely. "I didn't mean to fall asleep. We missed lunch, and now it's almost sunset again."

"It's fine," I whispered, sitting up as he slid off my chest.

This sudden loss of his comforting warmth was honestly quite unpleasant.

I picked up the blanket - pale purple in colour - and let it slip through my fingers, almost like water. I inhaled deeply, and a sweet, flowery scent flooded through my nostrils, reminding me horrifically of that dark, cold, dreaded night: the night I had lost Eren.

"Mikasa!" I shouted, making the teen at the foot of the bed jump in surprise. "It's her perfume! Where is she? I know she's here somewhere. Shove your ass Eren, and get moving!"

I leapt out of bed with the agility of a hunted gazelle and sprinted across the ward, skidding to a half in front of the opaque glass doors as I noticed a tall figure leaning on the frame on the other side. I rapped irritably upon our side of the doors, and the person turned around, revealing themselves to be a young woman with shoulder-length, jet black hair. I growled in the back of my throat as Mikasa Ackerman slid the doors open and pushed me roughly aside upon entering the room.

"Mikasa?" Eren yelped, paralysed with shock. "I thought you were at home!"

"I was, until this evening," she replied, in her usual deadpan monotone. "I heard that Mr. Levi Ackerman had vacated his apartment, and when I inspected the place, I found it to be true.

"You broke into my house?" I yelled in fury, my hands balling into fists by my side.

"I found a lot of blood was splattered across the floors and walls, and after smelling and tasting it, I decided that it was a mixture of Eren's, some stranger's and the apartment owner's," Mikasa continued, paying no attention to me as I fumed behind her. "I also found a hospital business card and a nurse's nametag, that had clearly been dropped on the floor. I went to the address and asked for Mr. Ackerman's ward; I knew I would find Eren here."

"You're a freak!" I shouted, running around the ward to stand between Eren and her. "Can't you see that this is where Eren wants to be?"

"Maybe he does want to be here, I can see that," she replied, advancing a few steps closer. "But it is not in his best interests to stay here. Come, Eren. We're going home."

She held out a pale hand towards him as I stared imploringly into his face, almost begging him not to leave. I couldn't bear watching him walk away right in front of my eyes again.

"No," Eren defied stubbornly, an obstinate glint in his eyes. "I won't go. I refuse. Mikasa, I love you; you're my sister, of course I do. But I'm old enough to decide things for myself now, and I don't want or need to be protected by you anymore. You need to stop thinking that I'm a helpless weakling, because I'm not. I fought alongside Levi for both of our lives, and I defended and saved him as he defended and saved me. Ever since our parents died all those years ago, I feel like I've been floating around the world, enjoying the life we had together but constantly searching for a purpose to it. I've found my purpose: I want to be with Levi, and you are not going to take me away from him."

I felt my heart flush with pride and pleasure as I listened to Eren's little speech, and a satisfied smirk twisted my lips as Mikasa's face slowly turned to wear an expression of shock. It took a few seconds, but she managed to regain her steely composure before she spat icy words towards us.

"You're not old enough to decide for yourself, Eren; you're 19 years old. When I was your age, we still lived in that orphanage, where everybody made our decisions. I didn't have the authority to choose to leave, I couldn't even opt for what I wanted to eat for breakfast" she retorted, anger showing in her eyes, that were almost as dark and soulless as mine.

"I understand your frustration," Eren continued calmly, backing away until his back was pressed against my body. "But with me gone, you can live exactly how you want. You can get your dream job, decorate the house however you see fit, do all the shopping, maybe even meet someone. And I'll be happy too, no matter where I end up, as long as it's with Levi, then I know I'll always be safe. Please, give me a chance. Even if we're miles apart, I will never forget you, and I will never stop caring about you. Sister? I'm asking you, please. Let me reach out on my own."

Wow, Eren had quite the way with words!

"No," Mikasa said firmly, making me gasp in anguish and hatred of this controlling woman. "You will come home with me, and you may leave when you turn 21."

Eren's turquoise eyes grew wide with trepidation and he swung around to face me, gripping my shirt tightly with his face mere centimetres away from my own. He was asking me to help him, and for once, I couldn't think of a single thing to do or say.

Mikasa strode quickly towards us, grasping Eren around the waste and dragging him backwards. I leapt forwards with a yell of fury, and found myself flying backwards and toppling over to the other side of the bed, after she delivered a well aimed kick to my wretchedly sore shoulder. After she had safely removed me from the picture, I watched her sling Eren over her own shoulders and manhandle him from the room, slamming the ward door behind her.

I was winded and I was in pain, but that didn't stop me from vaulting over the back of the bed and sprinting down the hallway after her. Mikasa was one freakishly strong chick, and even with Eren's violent protests, she still managed to wrestle him into an elevator. I accelerated harder than I ever had before and ran full pelt towards him, watching the doors sliding closed across the face of the person I treasured above all else. I wouldn't lose him, never.

I jumped into the air, my momentum carrying me forward through the air. I landed between elevator and wooden corridor, and the electronic metal doors slammed against both of my hips, making me cry out in pain as they stretched my tender wound. Eren yelped in shock, Mikasa tried to kick me out of the elevator, but I clawed my way to my feet, triumphantly pulling Eren back onto the floor and slamming him against the wall, standing directly in front of him as the elevator doors slid closed, and Mikasa elbowed a button with an angry growl.

"Get away from him!" she said threateningly, widening her stance so that it reminded me of a medieval swordsman. "You've done nothing but hurt him! Now get away!"

"Levi has never hurt me!" Eren cried, turning me hurriedly around to face him.

He caressed my face gently and pulled me down into a soft kiss, making me forget the whole rest of the world. I didn't even care that Mikasa was standing right behind us. When we broke apart, I span around to become Eren's shield once again, laughing successfully as I noticed Mikasa's face. She looked absolutely livid, her teeth clenched together like a tiger's.

"How dare you?!" she screamed, aiming a punch at my face which I easily dodged.

Of course. Obviously her accuracy would be off after witnessing that. What with a mixture of anger and shock clouding her mind, and she was of course a woman. And not just that, she was a woman who had never been in a relationship. I had the advantage 500 times over in this situation, as I had been forced to work as a stripper for several years back in my twenties.

"Oh, would you like me to kiss you too?" I teased, swaying my hips slightly as I walked towards her, smirking as she blushed scarlet and backed against the wall.

"N-No, that's n-not it," she stuttered, looking towards the floor and biting her lip as I leant over her, one hand on either side of her face.

It appeared I had discovered her weakness: seduction. Although I will admit it was a strange method to resort to.

The elevator doors slid open and I slowly walked away from her, letting my thumb graze over her chin and lips as I exited it, ensuring Eren was carefully in tow. As much as I hated to touch her anything like I touched Eren, at least it gave us our escape, and I chuckled as she regained composure and began screaming as she realised that the elevator doors had closed her in.

Eren wrapped his arms around my waist and laughed, pulling me in the direction of the cafeteria. Which was clearly his favourite place on the planet at the moment.


	17. Chapter 17

We entered the cafe and sidled over to the front desk, hoping to avoid running into Mikasa at any point. But then again, she was somewhere on the ground floor and most likely had no idea where. Even just the thought of her wandering around made me sadistically happy.

As we waited in line, we heard a few words of conversation between a hospital patient and the blonde waitress - Yuuki, I think she was called - who had served us previously.

"Is she alright?" the man asked her, nodding in the direction of a dark haired nurse standing in a far corner of the room, crying hard into a handkerchief.

"She's been like that for a couple of days," Yuuki explained, motioning for the man to lean closer to her so that they could avoid being overheard.

Naturally, Eren and I leant in expectantly.

"She was shot down," Yuuki continued.

"What?"

"She was turned down by someone she loved."

"Ahh. Well that would explain it. Love hurts."

"It most certainly does. Now, what was it you were wanting to order?"

As the conversation headed in an uninteresting direction, Eren and I slid across a few feet to talk between ourselves. I glanced over towards the sobbing nurse, and suddenly recognised who she was with a rather horrifying jolt.

"That's Yokubo Kankoshi!" I hissed, nudging Eren until he made the realisation himself. "We should get out of here."

"But I want a doughnut," Eren pouted, looking down at the counter with almost irresistible adorableness. "Can't we just hope she won't see us?"

"That woman has the eyes of a hawk when it comes to you," I explained, shooting her a suspicious look out of the corner of my eye. "She'll see us there's no doubt about that."

Yuuki headed our way and took our orders, Eren eagerly asking for exactly the same thing he had eaten the last time we'd been in this cafeteria, and surprisingly, so did I.

"You fancy a doughnut today then?" Eren asked, slightly confused as we sat down at a table as far away from Nurse Kankoshi as was feasible.

"Yeah, I could do with a bit of a sugary kick after chasing that damned Mikasa all over the place," I grumbled, deciding to pay Yuuki in advance to avoid any coin toss games as she brought us our food.

"I am sorry about her," Eren sighed, taking a sip of his milkshake. "I don't know what's got into her. I've never known her be like this before."

"It's alright, I think I can see what's going on," I said snootily, licking some of the chocolate icing off the top of my doughnut. "God this is good... I think your sister is jealous, that it's me who is spending all the time with you, rather than her. That, and I think she loves you."

Eren spat his drink out and began to choke, only breathing properly again once I had whacked him across the back.

"What?!" he coughed, slamming his glass down on the table. "You think she what?!"

"Loves you," I continued tonelessly, slightly amused at the reaction I had evoked. "It's bloody obvious! She looked like she could have stabbed me when I kissed you in the elevator. Everybody wants you, don't they? Lucky bastard; nobody wants me."

"I do," Eren piped up, making me do a slight double take. "I want you."

"Eh?" I exclaimed, frowning slightly as I stared across the table at him. "No you don't!"

"Then why did I say it?" Eren asked sceptically, feeling it was safe to take another sip from his drink.

But before I could even try to reply, I heard a distraught wail from behind me, and I span around to find Yokubo Kankoshi running hysterically towards us. She had finally spotted Eren.

"Oh shit, is it too late to run?" I quickly whispered, getting to my feet and leaving my food.

"It's never too late to run!" Eren replied, taking the lead and darting out of the cafeteria, me not far behind.

The dark haired nurse shouted nonsensical garbage at our backs as we rocketed down the hallway, spinning around a very confused looking old woman who was tottering down the corridor with her drip in tow. I leapt over the trailing pipe, clearing it with at least 3 feet to spare and landing spectacularly, feeling fitter than I had since my youth.

Eren beckoned for me to catch up with him and I put on an extra burst of speed, skidding around a corner towards the elevator. Typically as hell, Mikasa was just coming out of it, looking exceedingly flustered.

"Eren!" she yelped, throwing her body aside as we tore past her, diving into the elevator and forcibly removing the patients within it.

Eren jammed his finger down onto the up button as the doors closed us in, both Mikasa and Yokubo's screams echoing in our pounding ears. We both laughed breathlessly, readying our stances to run out of the lift once the doors slid open. We streaked out onto the hallway, quickly locating my ward and slamming the doors behind us, the misted glass rattling in its frames.

"Why is there no lock on this door?" I growled in frustration, looking around for a piece of furniture to block it off with.

"Because that would be dangerous for the handicapped patients," replied Dr. Striker.

Both Eren and I shrieked at the top of our lungs and spun around to face him, our hearts in our mouths.

"When the hell did you get in here?" I yelled, breathing heavily from the shock of his sudden appearance.

"About twenty minutes ago," the doctor said, continuing to write on his notepad as he stood beside the window. "When I believe you had just left the room to go to the cafeteria. I think I can conclude by the way you re-entered the room, that you did not have a satisfactory eating experience?"

"You could put it that way," I replied shrewdly, inching my way closer to him. "Um... Why are you here?"

"I was hoping to ask you a few more questions and examine your wound," Dr. Striker explained, discarding the clipboard at last and walking towards me. "May I?"

"Of course," I said, faltering slightly as I once again lifted my shirt out of the way.

Even as I gazed down at my own injury, I could see that there had been little damage dealt during my little scuffle with Mikasa, which was good as I had no intention whatsoever of spilling the beans to the doctor. I thought it had even healed over a little. Apparently, I was right.

"There has been good progress here, Mr. Ackerman," the doctor praised, giving me the ok to drop my shirt hem again. "And you seem to be regaining your fitness and appetite perfectly well, from what Eren and the waitresses have told me. I would like to keep you in overnight once more, but then we could consider taking your stitches out tomorrow morning and letting you head home that evening, after we have monitored how your wound copes without support."

I nodded in agreement, happiness rushing through me at the prospect of leaving that damned hospital. Dr. Striker shook my hand before he left the ward, and I had to wipe my own fingers on my pyjamas once he was out of sight; doctor or not, he could still have germs.

"Guess we're stuck here for another night then," I sighed, sitting down on the bed and glancing out of the window.

Finally, we could see the sunset!

"Yeah, suppose so," Eren replied, sitting down beside me and putting an arm around my shoulders.

The sky glowed bright golden orange above the horizon, a few pale blue and lilac clouds hovering above the sun, which was bigger than I had ever seen it. The town was a deep black silhouette, shimmering with ice from the cool November temperatures. It wasn't long until the calendar's would be changing over, and it would become December, that dreaded, manic countdown until the 25th, which was the day the people called Christmas. I had never been a big celebrator of Christmas, not since my parents had been killed on the way home from a Christmas meal anyway. I don't think I've ever mentioned that before.

Eren lay his head on my shoulder, sighing happily as we gazed out of the window together, enjoying the sight of the flaming sun slowly sinking below the ebony rooftops, the light in the sky dying slowly, to be replaced with a faint navy glow, little sparks of starts popping into sight.

I rested my chin atop Eren's forehead, holding him closer and enjoying his warmth. I had never realised how cold I normally was before, but whenever Eren wasn't close by me, I felt an unwelcome chill that I would much rather live without.

"I love you," Eren mumbled, half asleep and heavy on my shoulder.

"Yeah, love you too," I replied, letting myself topple backwards onto the bed and pulling him down on top of me.

We fiddled around until we had manoeuvred the blanket to cover us both, and that was where we stayed, still admiring the beautiful dusk that we could watch out of our window. Eren fell asleep almost instantly, using my chest as a pillow with one arm wrapped around my midriff. I however, lay awake for hours, savouring the feeling of holding Eren close to me, completely overwhelmed by feelings of love to think of anything else.

I didn't even raise my head when I noticed a bedraggled looking Mikasa quietly enter the room. By that time, it was pitch black in the room, and I couldn't clearly see her face. But I swear I heard her sob slightly as she stood still, staring at us.

"Eren..." she whimpered, sinking to her knees. "Why him? What did I do? I don't deserve this pain."

These words confused me, but I didn't have the time to focus on that. I had to keep Eren warm and safe through the night no matter what.

I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep as Mikasa got shakily to her feet, and at that moment I heard Eren mumble something whilst dreaming.

"Levi... Stay... Don't leave me, ever... No! No, Mikasa stop... Levi! Come back!"

Mikasa choked down her tears as she approached us, and I made an extra effort to feign sleep believably. It worked like a charm. Mikasa leant over us, and stroked Eren's hair gently, making me feel like strangling her. But after all, she was his sister.

"I won't," she softly whispered. "I won't try and take you away anymore. If it means this much to you, then I'll let you stay. So please; I don't want to be the monster in your nightmares."

"You love him don't you?" I breathed, wondering if she would scream.

However, she seemed completely accustomed to the fact that I had been faking it. Damn her.

"No, not in the way you do," she replied tonelessly, gazing at me calmly as my eyes flickered open, an unusual lack of coldness in her dark grey irises. "I care for him like a brother, and I don't want him to be so upset. But you'd better take care of him, or else I'll kill you. I've killed a man before, so I can and I will do it again. If I entrust Eren to you, then please care for him. Love him, cherish him and strive your hardest for his happiness. If you do all this, then I will do my utmost to grow to tolerate you."

"Geez, means a lot," I said sarcastically, before continuing in a more serious tone. "But I promise that he will never be unhappy or unloved whilst under my roof. You can trust me, I will never hurt Eren for as long as I am alive."

Mikasa nodded curtly before exiting the room, leaving me feel higher than I had in years. Finally, Eren and I could be together! Once I got out of that goddamn hospital, we would be free to enjoy our lives beside one another. Hell, I couldn't wait to tell Eren.


	18. Chapter 18

We awoke feeling slightly stiff, as neither of us had ever slept in the same bed as another person before, and we found there must be some sort of art to it. Never mind, we had plenty of time to practice.

"I was wrong, Mikasa doesn't love you," I admitted, helping Eren to change into some fresh clothes.

"You moron," Eren scolded, slapping my hand jokingly as he pulled a clean, white t-shirt over his head. "You terrified me yesterday!"

"Sorry!" I mumbled, handing him a brown leather belt to hold his jeans up. "But I do have some good news. Mikasa came in yesterday after you fell asleep, and we actually had a pretty civilised conversation, as far as the two of us go. She said that she would let you go out on your own, and that she would try and come to terms with the fact that we love each other."

"Oh thank goodness!" Eren exclaimed, throwing his arms around me in a messy, happy hug. "I'm so happy we can finally be together!"

"Yeah, me too," I smiled, before suddenly remembering what Mikasa had said previously. "Oh by the way, when did Mikasa kill a man?"

Eren dropped his trainer in surprise, and retrieved it before answering me.

"When we had just moved out of the orphanage. We were coming out of a supermarket with a basket full of food, and a homeless guy pointed a gun at my head, threatening to shoot unless we handed over everything on our person. She practically went into blind rage mode, and just flew at him. She stabbed him to death with a kitchen knife from the cutlery set we had just bought."

"Doesn't surprise me," I responded, a sudden wave of respect for Mikasa washing over me. "She said she'd go to any lengths to protect you, so you should be proud to have such a sister."

"I am," Eren said curtly, and I got the impression that he didn't want to pursue the subject any longer.

Sure enough, I was right.

"You want to go get a doughnut or something?" he asked, and I burst out laughing.

We headed down to the cafe, our hands clasped gently between us, fingers intricately entwined. Upon arrival in the room, we found that a table had already been prepared for us, with two chocolate and jam doughnuts sitting on plates, alongside two strawberry milkshakes. As we entered, Yuuki held out her hand, and Eren handed me the change, which I tossed across the room and watched her catch them perfectly, flashing us a dazzling smile before setting back to her work.

We sat down at our table, apparently such regular customers that they could already predict when we would be arriving. I wasn't quite sure if I should have been embarrassed about that or not.

Eren and I tucked hungrily into our food, which was probably the unhealthiest breakfast ever to be served in a hospital in the history of Japan. Although, we had pointedly ignored the tray of scrambled eggs and bacon that had been set out for us: we planned to get to it later. That also proved to me that the hospital did in fact, offer other options to bread. I must just have been in on a busy bread day.

Once we had eaten our snacks, we headed back up to the ward, where the appearance of Dr. Striker was much less of a shock. After examining my wound and asking me a few health and fitness related questions, he decided that it was time to remove my stitches.

"How do you even do that?" I asked, slightly worried that they would impale me with a humongous pair of scissors, or a dangerously sharp scalpel.

"Don't worry, Mr. Ackerman," the doctor chuckled. "We use perfectly safe tools for this procedure. It shouldn't take any longer than five minutes, and the pain will be kept at a minimal level. You may feel an uncomfortable pressure as I remove the stitches, but compared to what you have experienced, it should be nothing."

I wasn't afraid of pain, but all the same, my stomach felt a little queasy at the thought of getting my stitches out, no matter how much of a rush I was in to remove them. Eren squeezed my hand reassuringly from behind, and that restored my confidence more than anything the doctor could have said.

"Shall we take them out now?" Dr. Striker asked, waggling his eyebrows at me. "You can go home after that."

I nodded hurriedly, gripping Eren's hand and leading him behind me as we left the ward and headed into a suitable room.

The process was a little uncomfortable, like the doctor had said, and I felt a little bit of a twinge every now and then, but it was nothing I couldn't handle with Eren by my side. Once this had been completed, I had freedom of movement back again, and the pale scar that I was left with would fade away over time. My life was all falling into place perfectly, and I couldn't wait to turn from shady, careless, suicidal Levi, into loving, happy, friendly Levi. All with Eren Jaeger to help me on my way.

After a very thorough examination of my slightly sore wound, I was cleared to pack my things and finally leave the hospital. Eren and I ran like children towards an ice cream truck as we headed back into my ward, haphazardly tossing our varied belongings into a backpack. Eren did a final sweep of the room as I changed out of my pyjamas and into jeans and a jumper, and then we were all set to get going. We dashed down to reception, skidding to a halt in front of the desk and suddenly finding our exhilaration sapped completely. Yokubo Kankoshi was sorting files before us, and before Eren could duck out of sight, she had turned her blotchy face towards us, mascara running down her cheeks and making her appear somewhat like a melting panda. I could barely conceal my snigger.

She shot me a filthy look before staring woefully towards Eren, clutching onto the desk for dear life as she attempted to speak.

"Have you come to check out?" she croaked hoarsely, her previously perfect fingernails chipped and uneven as she gripped the wooden table top.

Eren nodded, shooting me a slightly helpless sideways glance. I covered my mouth with my sleeve as I tried desperately not to laugh.

Yokubo let out the most miserable wail of despair that I have heard to this day, before she collapsed onto the clean tiled floor, causing Eren to leap away from her in shock. Neither of us had the slightest idea about how to deal with a heartily sobbing woman, so we simply looked around the reception for some manner of assistance.

Thank god for waitress Yuuki, who came tottering around the corner at that very moment, carrying at least fifteen empty coffee mugs.

"Need a little help?" she asked sympathetically, setting down her load on the top of the desk. "I can check you out, I know basically what I'm doing."

Yokubo tried to regain control of herself as Yuuki fiddled with the computer, jotting down the answers I gave to her questions, projecting an atmosphere of sheer joy while she did it. I was glad there were cheerful people like her in the world, as opposed to the snivelling wreck at her feet.

We completed the checkin out progress at incredible speed, and were finally left with paying the bill. Yuuki printed out a copy for me to read, and I skimmed through it as my stomach dropped like a rock through the floor.

"Eren!" I bellowed, waving the piece of paper in front of his startled face. "You informed me that hospital patients didn't have to pay for the food they bought in the cafeteria! This clearly proves that they most certainly do, and they apparently also have to pay for visitors under the age of 21. You cost me 18,000 yen! Cough up, you little jackass!"

"But that's not right," Yuuki muttered, flicking through the bill on her computer. "Eren paid every day with cash, so it shouldn't have been put onto your total cost. And you didn't eat nearly enough in the cafe to warrant a price like that... It's possible that someone may have been ordering under your name. Hang on a second, I'll be right back; I'm just going to check something with the other waitresses."

She scuttled out of sight, picking up the deserted coffee mugs on her way. I glanced down at Yokubo, considering using her as a punch-bag to help in taking out some of my fury. She seemed to be in control of herself once again however, as she slowly got to her feet and walked shakily around the reception desk, heading towards us. I turned towards Eren to question him about his time in the cafe, but suddenly received a swift kick to the back of my head, causing me to topple into Eren, who thankfully caught me. My ears rang high pitched as my head throbbed painfully, a bruise already erupting from the area that had been hit hardest by Yokubo's high-heeled shoes.

"Don't you dare yell at Eren!" she shrieked, sounding like she was completely out of her mind.

"Don't you dare hurt Levi!" Eren retorted, stepping in front of me and blocking my own angry reply.

I collapsed into the desk, the entire room spinning before my eyes. Damn, this wasn't good.

"Nurse Kankoshi," Eren gently explained. "I'm sorry, truly I am. But the person I love is Levi, and nobody will ever stand in the way of that. I don't love you, and if I could offer you a piece of advice: next time you fancy someone, just ask! Don't pursue them like a crazy stalker, it's not pleasant. I hope you do find someone to love you one day, but that person isn't me, so go out and keep looking. I wish you all the best."

Yokubo hiccupped and stared, watery-eyed into Eren's anxious face. By that time I had regained my usual state of being and stepped forward to take hold of Eren's hand, telling him that he had done the right thing. And secretly, I was also claiming him as 100% mine, and telling that bitch nurse that she'd better keep her hands away from him.

"I'll do it!" she suddenly exploded, leaping to her feet and punching the air. "I'll find love! Thank you, Eren!"

And with that, she tugged Eren into a horribly tight embrace, accidentally pulling me along with him. It was unpleasant to say the least, but it did make me appreciate my own personal space more once she had scuttled away down the corridor.

"Oh god," Eren groaned, punching his head onto my shoulder. "I can't take any more of this! We need to get out of here, and it needs to be fast."

"Just got to wait for that waitress, Yuuki to come back," I reassured him. "If Nurse Kankoshi comes anywhere near us again, then I may have to strangle her."

Eren giggled, standing up straight again just in time for Yuuki's reappearance. She trotted happily around to the other side of the reception desk and held up a new printed copy of my bill.

"Turns out someone was ordering food under your name," she explained, taking my credit card as I paid for the correct cost of my stay. "Someone called Miss Ackerman had been here too, and the names must have been mixed up. She's not your wife is she?"

Eren and I turned to stare at each other, quite decently shocked.

"Mikasa?!" we exclaimed in unison, confusing Yuuki considerably.

"No, she's not my wife," I hurriedly said, picking up my backpack and saluting the waitress, who for some reason started blushing. "Or my sister, or my girlfriend. Or my mother, for that matter. Thank you for the stay! And you know, for saving my life and all that."

"Hope we don't see you again, sir!" she laughed, waving us out of the doors.

Eren followed me out into the open air as we started to walk briskly along the pavement. It was a cold afternoon, and neither of us had coats on, so we stayed as close together as possible in an attempt to share our lingering body heat.

"Why did Mikasa order so much food?" Eren wondered aloud, jogging after me as we crossed the road. "She had to have been at the hospital for ages to eat that amount. Do you think she lied when she said she only arrived on the evening you woke up?"

"Probably," I replied. "That woman can talk her way out of anything, slippery minx that she is."

"But I was there for a week before you came back around," Eren frowned. "And I didn't see hide nor hair of her."

"Well you never know," I continued. "She was probably following you the entire time. She's strange like that."

"I sort of want to call her and ask," Eren ventured, twirling his mobile phone between his fingers.

"Go right ahead! She gave us the all clear to enjoy our lives together, so there should be no reason why you couldn't drop her a line. Unless you're afraid of her?" I teased, chuckling as Eren fumbled with the buttons, his cold-numbed fingers refusing to cooperate properly.

Once the phone was finally ringing, Eren held it to his ear, teeth chattering as a merciless blast of icy wind swirled around us, fluttering the hem of my sweater. I shivered and huddled closer into him.

"Hey Mikasa, it's Eren... Yeah everything's fine, we're just heading home actually... Um, well I was planning on staying the night at Levi's, then coming back to our house to collect my things... No, I'm not entirely sure what the plan is, but I'll tell you later... That's not even the issue right now! I actually had something I wanted to ask you... We were wondering how you managed to get a bill worth 18,000 yen from eating in the hospital cafeteria? Oh... Oh wow! That's really amazing, Mikasa! Yeah, they sent the bill to the home address, it should arrive tomorrow... Can you afford it? Ok good. See you tomorrow then."

Eren hung up the phone and I stared at him expectantly, wondering what on earth was so amazing.

"She didn't buy the food for herself," Eren explained, taking my hand as we continued to walk along the pavement. "On her way to the hospital she spotted two homeless children begging on the street, who looked around the same ages we had been when our parents were killed. So she bought them the food and dropped it off on her way home."

Once again, my chest inexplicably swelled with pride for the black haired woman, thinking that it must take quite a heart to spend 18,000 yen on two children. Then again, in my new frame of mind, I would probably have done the exact same thing.


	19. Chapter 19

We were exceedingly glad for the warmth we encountered as we arrived at the apartment complex, stamping our feet and rubbing our hands together as we climbed the stairs. The heating system was usually broken, so having it fully functional was a pleasant surprise, even if it only warmed the building a little.

After Eren had presented me with the key to my apartment, I unlocked the door and forced it open, pushing heaps of clutter aside as we waded through the mess. There was a lot of work to do, and despite my exhaustion, I couldn't bear to live somewhere so very untidy. I appeared to be turning into some sort of clean freak...

"Can we start with the living room?" I requested, dumping my backpack on the sofa as Eren nodded in agreement.

"It is a complete dump," he admitted, taking it a little too far, but speaking the truth all the same.

We spent the next four hours arranging the living room, and the rest of the apartment for that matter, until it was as clean and orderly as an army dormitory. Everything was packed into cupboards and stored on shelves neatly, so that my apartment looked like an entirely new home. We had dusted and mopped, swept the floors and washed the windows. If I was perfectly, cockily honest with myself; the place looked pretty damn impeccable. Apart from the abysmal state of the floorboards and tiles, and the peeling wallpaper that hung from every room.

I glanced out of the newly sparkling window, finally able to clearly see the beautiful expanse of the city that stretched majestically below us. It was pitch black outside, and the clock in the kitchen - which had recently received new batteries - accurately read just after half past seven.

"Do you think the shops will be closed?" I asked Eren, pausing in my attempts to organise the crockery cupboard.

"I would have thought so," Eren replied, scurrying towards the kitchen and poking his head around the doorframe. "Why?"

"We need new carpets and wallpaper," I explained, clattering plates as I stacked them on top of each other. "Have you seen the state of the ones we have at the moment?"

"We?" Eren questioned, walking to stand beside me and helping to sort through the old, chipped mugs, and the shiny new ones that I had recently acquired. "What do you mean by 'we'? I don't live here."

"The hell are you on?" I exclaimed, staring down at Eren with a slightly angry expression. "Of course you live here; this is your apartment too."

Eren's mouth formed a perfect O in shock as these words registered with him, and as the full impact of what I had just said sank in, he winced horribly as a mug slipped from his grip and smashed to pieces on the kitchen floor.

"Ahh! I'm sorry!" Eren cried, hurriedly placing the rest of the mugs on the granite work surface and crouching down to pick up the shattered remains of the mug.

"Don't do that, idiot," I shouted, leaping towards him urgently. "You'll cut yourself!"

But it was too late. Eren cursed under his breath as he rapidly withdrew his hand, a thick carmine trickle running down his wrist, a deep puncture wound inflicted upon his index fingertip.

My heart seemed to stop dead for a few seconds, and I could barely catch my breath. I watched the blood ooze from his finger, dripping onto the kitchen tiles and pooling where it landed. My throat was constricted and my eyes wide and staring, the thin scars on my arms aching and yearning to be slit open as this unwelcome yearning had once again arisen within me. It rose up in my chest, boiling like a witch's cauldron; an evil feeling that completely took control, driving me into the bathroom and commanding my shaking hands to lock the door. Eren banged upon it and shouted my name, but all I could hear was my ears ringing with longing as I frantically searched the room for a blade.

Upon locating one, I leant against the bathroom sink, finally able to calm down as I sunk it's sharp edge into my skin. It burned and stung like hell, but felt oddly satisfying, like I had suddenly become whole and repaired after being broken for such a long time. Now, my own blood dribbled down my arm, staining my new shirt as the fresh wound throbbed and itched.

I heart Eren throw his entire body weight against the door, felt the vibrations as the hinges gave way, and the door crashed onto the floor, narrowly missing me. I sank to my knees, holding my wrist out in front of me as I gripped the handle of my knife tightly. Eren had staunched his previous injury with a wad of kitchen towel, but I could still make out a faint patch of scarlet where the blood had seeped through the material, and this gave me the drive I needed to continue.

I hated myself for what I was doing, but somehow I couldn't resist digging out another crescent shaped patch of my arm, watching the blood spurting out from between the ripped folds of skin.

"Stop!" Eren yelled, collapsing beside me and trying to wrench the knife out of my hands.

I whipped around to face him, a wild, almost deranged expression in my eyes. Eren looked afraid, however he swallowed determinedly and gripped both my wrists, squeezing them until blood dripped steadily from the left, and the blade fell out of the right, clattering onto the floor with a resounding ring. My head was echoing and I had lost all awareness of sensation, only able to feel the tears running steadily down my face. I couldn't even register Eren's warm hold... What had I done?

"You have to stop doing this," Eren sadly uttered, sounding almost disappointed in me.

It ripped at my heart, but the damage was done, and I was not prepared for what came next. Eren retrieved the knife from the floor, holding it in his trembling hand as he let go of my arms, allowing them to fall uselessly to my sides. He inhaled deeply, shuddering slightly as he braced himself, before digging the blade a few millimetres into his own wrist, wincing horribly as he did so.

"No..." I breathed, unable to summon the strength to forcibly stop him.

Eren gritted his teeth, pain clouding his turquoise eyes as he sunk the knife in deeper, trickles of incarnadine liquid leaking from the slit. He tipped his head towards the ceiling and screamed at the top of his voice, his face wracked with anguish as the knife penetrated further. He let out one final sob before wrenching the blade out of his skin, throwing it aside and gripping his wrist tightly, just below the fresh injury he had just inflicted upon himself.

"Why did you do that?" I asked him, managing to regain some manner of steadiness in my voice. "What the hell was the point?"

"Answer your own question," Eren shouted, turning to glare at me with such defiance that I had never before seen in him. "What was the point of you doing that? Just like my case, it achieved nothing. Not a single damn thing. Just quit it already! Remember, you're not only hurting yourself."

"I can't stop," I muttered, flinching away from his accusatory gaze. "Not after so long."

"I'm not stopping until you do," Eren stated stubbornly, once again reaching for the knife.

My hand shot out to stop him, grabbing his injured wrist and feeling guilt wash over me as he gasped with pain.

"You don't have to do this. Please, don't start. It hurts me too much to watch you," I explained, pulling him closer to me as we sat, side by side on the blood spattered bathroom floor.

"Well it hurts five times as much for me to watch you," Eren choked, leaning into me as I wrapped my arms around him. "You have to stop. Even the pain of cutting myself is nothing compared to the fear and torment I have to go through when I see you doing that and hurting yourself."

"Alright... Alright, calm down..." I whispered, holding him close as he trembled and cried, clutching his own bleeding wrist. "I'll try to stop, I will. Just, don't cry."

"Do you promise?" Eren asked steadily, staring up into my face, tear filled green orbs meeting tear filled black ones. "Do you swear it?"

"I promise I'll stop," I muttered, gripping his arm tightly as the blood from my own wound soaked into the material of his shirt. "If you promise not to cry anymore."

Eren nodded and sniffed, detaching himself from me and getting to his feet, picking up the knife from the floor and walking over to the tall cupboard. There he proceeded to locate every single blade I possessed, and gathered them all up into a bundle, before depositing them into the bin in the kitchen.

"We'll start right now now," he said firmly, bandaging my wrist despite my protest, as well as disinfecting and sticking a plaster over his own wound. "You said this was the start of your new life, so everything is going to change."

I shrugged my shoulders, willingly throwing the few, extra-well-hidden penknives that Eren couldn't find into the dustbin.

"Then I guess I'll have to trust you. What else do you want me to do?" I said, sitting down on my newly vacuumed sofa and flicking on the polished television, feeling my heart rate slowly returning to normal.

"Well, quitting smoking would be a good start," Eren pondered, plonking himself down beside me and wiping his face with a tissue from the box that was usefully placed on the coffee table.

"Done," I stated, making out as if I was counting down on a checklist. "I haven't smoked in weeks, and I'm not planning on starting that up again. Made me cough something awful in damp weather. What else?"

"You need to redecorate the apartment, which can be done tomorrow," Eren continued, also sounding like he was making a list. "You also need to go food shopping, and get a haircut."

"No way in hell," I replied bluntly, crossing one leg over the other as I flicked through the channels. "I am not walking into a barber shop, even if you pay me."

"Oh alright, chill out!" Eren sighed exasperatedly, sinking backwards into the settee and flashing me a secretly knowing look. "I know you hate other people touching you."

"How'd you work that one out?" I asked casually, setting the remote control down and beginning to watch a nature documentary for the first time in two decades.

It was true though, I hated other people even coming near to me. Eren, of course, was the one exception.

"It was the way you acted at the hospital when the doctor was checking your wound," Eren explained, shuffling suspiciously close to me. "You didn't even notice just now as I slipped my arm around your waist, but whenever Dr. Striker brushed against your skin then you flinched away, consciously or not."

Oh gosh, Eren really had just hugged me! Was I so tired that I had become unaware of my surroundings? Or was it simply that Eren's touch was so normal and comfortable to me that I just didn't care? The latter sounded much more preferable.


	20. Chapter 20

I gazed out of the window, watching the luminous sun sinking below the city skyline, the narration of the documentary fading slowly into the background. I held Eren close to me, his soft breathing so close to my ear that I could feel warm puffs of air as he exhaled.

"You're staying the night then?" I asked tenderly, easily taking the impact of Eren dropping his head onto my lap.

"Mhm," Eren confirmed, curling his knees up to his chest.

"Well then, you'd better sleep in here," I said, scooping him up into my arms and lugging him in the direction of the bedroom.

Okay, don't laugh at me. At that point he was taller and much more muscled than I was, so attempting to carry him ended up being a lot less romantic than I had originally anticipated. The gesture seemed appropriate though, as Eren made no sound of complaint as I staggered through the bedroom door. However, when I threw him down onto my own small bed, he sat up and frowned at me.

"But where will you sleep?" he asked confusedly.

"Uhh, here?" I answered jokingly, rooting around in the drawers for some pyjamas.

"So you're ok with me sleeping in your bed?" Eren wondered, catching the spare pair of lose trousers I threw to him.

"It's also your bed now," I said firmly, forcing the stiff drawer shut and starting to change. "Remember? This is your apartment too."

"How?" Eren continued, behaving excruciatingly naively. "I still live with Mikasa."

"Well, what if I asked you to move in with me?" I ventured, nervously fiddling with the buckle on my discarded belt. "Then our relationship could maybe move forward a bit."

"Are you serious?!" Eren cried, pausing in shock halfway through changing and proceeding to leap about in his boxers. "That would my life complete!"

"Nah, I'd probably drive you crazy," I chuckled, buttoning up my pale blue pyjama shirt and sitting on the bed beside Eren.

"Change that 'I'd' into an 'I'll', and we'll see how it goes!" Eren grinned, jumping onto me and pinning me down on my back on the bed, holding my wrists above my head.

"Is that a yes then?" I asked shakily, barely able to believe my eyes - literally, as the view I was getting was amazing.

"Of course it's a yes!" Eren laughed, leaning down and kissing me into the pillows, making my head rush and pound as his bare chest pressed against my windpipe.

Damn it Eren, change out of those boxers! Your level of hot is way too much for someone like me to handle. And by someone like me, I mean a virgin. Don't scorn me, I'd never been in a relationship before. You really think a suicidal introvert would be looking for a partner?

"Um, Eren?" I asked, slightly regretting breaking the kiss, my previous thoughts bringing about my question. "Have you ever had a girlfriend or boyfriend before?"

"Never a boyfriend," Eren replied, clambering off me and sitting beside me, hugging his knees into his stomach. "But I did have a girlfriend when I was fifteen. We only lasted a few months though; she was abusive."

I gasped in horror, the thought of anybody raising a hand to my precious Eren making me boil with rage.

"We met in the orphanage," Eren explained, apparently in the mood for telling stories, not that I was complaining. "Her name was Annie Leonhart, and she was a couple of weeks older than me. Tall, blonde, crystal blue eyes and a cold expression. She was always very emotionless, although she was skilled at combat - martial arts and all that - and always had a very demanding, controlling attitude to life. Anyway, she asked me out and Mikasa urged me to accept; I think she wanted me to enjoy life again, after all, my parents had just died. I'm still not sure why Annie asked me out in the first place, but I do know that it was after I had an angry outburst over dinner. I'd seen a gang of bullies beating up a close friend of mine - Armin Arlert, who shared mine and Mikasa's bedroom - and I rushed over to protected him. She may possibly have liked my sudden furious spark, I don't know. But disregarding that, we dated for a few weeks and everything was going fine, but then she started pushing herself on me because I was reluctant to make any first moves. She kissed me first, she touched me first, she initiated sex first. It was every single time, and I think she got sick of it. So she started verbally and physically abusing me until I did as she told me to do, and I kept it a secret for about two months. But Mikasa and Armin found out one day when I returned to the bedroom with a black eye, and that was the first time I ever saw Annie lose a fight. Mikasa had her pinned against the wall with a severe nosebleed by the time the orphanage owners could separate them. We broke up shortly after that, but no surprises there."

My heart was thudding in my chest and I felt an overwhelming desire to punch that blonde bitch. However, my respect and liking for Mikasa Ackerman had increased dramatically, making me feel almost proud of the woman. She really had protected Eren all her life, and now I hoped to fill her shoes and carry on protecting him, until my very last breath.

"Did that not obliterate your confidence in relationships?" I asked him, gently laying my hand on top of his.

"Yeah, completely," Eren admitted, flipping his hand over and returning the pressure. "Well, at least until I met you. So have you had any relationships before?"

"Nope," I said sadly, feeling slightly ashamed of myself.

"That's nothing to worry about," Eren comforted, almost as if he could read my mind. "If anything, it makes me even happier that I get to teach you all about everything! Annie did at least know what she was doing, even if she didn't do it nicely."

I nodded, feeling much better about my slightly pathetic history. If I was honest with myself, I was quite looking forward to learning from Eren. I wanted to tell him this, but couldn't quite get the words out, so instead I brushed my lips gently against his, revelling in the deep, wanton moan that escaped him. I wasn't overly sure why this sound aroused me, so I decided to pursue that topic, moving away a few centimetres to speak.

"What do you want?" I intrigued, my stomach twisting somewhat as Eren's body convulsed below me. "You'll have to show me, I don't understand."

"I want you," Eren breathed, sending another confusing shudder down my spine. "All of you."

"But how does that work?" I muttered, blushing in my stupidity. "I'm here with you now."

Eren laughed out loud and flipped our positions, so that he was straddling me on the edge of the bed, in great danger of rolling the both of us out and onto the floor.

"You're so cute," he giggled, laying a hand tenderly on my cheek. "I can't even believe you're this innocent! Don't worry about it, I'll help you out, show you everything. When you're ready, at least. I think we'll have to ease you into it."

"Are you talking about sex?" I asked, blushing scarlet at my own bluntness.

"Of course I am!" Eren chuckled, rolling off me and shuffling under the bedcovers. "But I don't get the feeling that you're quite there yet. That's ok! I'm not uncontrollable or anything! We'll move slowly, keeping us both comfortable the entire way. After all, our love is everlasting, so there's no rush."


	21. Chapter 21

I nodded, feeling happier than I had in a long time as I wrapped a hand around Eren's shoulders, the ignored pyjama trousers falling off the bed as I shuffled around to get comfortable. I reached a hand out of bed, plunging it into the cold apartment air to turn out the light, drowning the room in darkness, the only light emanating from the curtain-less window (I had thrown them out due to an incomprehensible number of cobwebs and tears). The moon glowed brightly as it hovered over the tops of the skyscrapers, flooding our bedroom with a soft, luminescent beam, one that fell directly onto the bed, as it was situated directly below the window.

I closed my eyes, Eren's gentle warmth keeping me comfortable as I slowly drifted into sleep, holding him close as my dreams claimed me. I felt like the luckiest guy on the goddamn planet.

I woke late, groaning groggily as I sat up and rubbed my eyes, registering the time to be 10.32am. I felt a bolt of horror shoot through me for a second, before I remembered that I didn't have to be at work anymore. I was a free man! But I was also unemployed, and would soon run out of money and die... But depression was shoved aside as a delicious, tormenting smell began to seep under the door, which had been pushed closed. Eren had already roused himself, and I assumed he was cooking. I was right.

I yawned as I wandered curiously into the kitchen, my eyes lighting up like a small child's as I saw Eren, still only wearing his boxers, but with the addition of an apron fastened casually over the top. It was sexy as hell, but I found my gaze drawn to his hands, where a frying pan and spatula were held as he skilfully tossed a golden pancake high in the air, and caught it again after it had flipped.

"This is a pleasant surprise!" I exclaimed, hurrying over to him and hugging him from behind.

"Don't do that!" Eren screeched, whacking me over the head with the spatula. "I might accidentally drop the pancake! You'd rather eat it that clean it up, I'm sure."

"Oh yeah," I agreed, licking my lips as my stomach rumbled loudly. "When's it ready, by the way?"

"Sit down," Eren giggled, gesturing to the kitchen table, where two plates, glasses of milk, and knives and forks had already been laid out opposite each other. "It's ready now. Do you have any syrup?"

"There should be some in the cupboard to the left of the sink," I instructed, taking my seat as I hungrily watched Eren slide the pancakes onto my plate, having already cooked a stack for himself.

Eren turned off the gas stove and deposited the spatula and frying pan into the water filled sink, creating a satisfying hissing sound as the metal made contact with the surface of the liquid. He then squatted down - apron nicely riding up his ass and giving me a view that was almost more delicious than my breakfast - and retrieved an unopened bottle of golden syrup from the aforementioned cupboard.

I clapped my hands together and chuckled as he walked towards the kitchen, throwing the apron aside and casually slipping one of my hooded jumpers around his shoulders before he sat down opposite me and greedily began to drown his pancakes in syrup.

"Easy on the sugar!" I chuckled, wrestling the bottle out of his hands and trailing a small trickle on top of my own breakfast. "You'll get hyped up again, and this apartment just isn't strong enough to contain you."

Eren snorted indignantly as he popped a gigantic slice of pancake into his mouth, eyes glazing over with enjoyment as he chewed and swallowed, diving in for seconds. I cut the corner off my own food and started to eat, quite decently impressed by the quality of Eren's cooking. It was certainly better than anything I had ever produced.

We ate in silence, both of us far too hungry to spare the slightest thought to conversation. However, cleaning up afterwards was a totally different situation. I pulled off my shirt to avoid it getting wet, then I dumped a large handful of frothy washing up liquid onto Eren's head. By means of revenge, he messily arranged a bubble beard upon my exceedingly indignant face, and that slowly brought us into a full on war. The dishes lay forgotton at the bottom of the sink as we hurled handfuls of crystal coloured bubbles across the kitchen, soaking the tiled floors, and each other, within a matter of minutes. By the time we both collapsed in exhaustion, covered in bubbles and panting hard, against the bathroom door, we already knew what we were about to do.

I wrestled the apron over Eren's head and threw it onto the sopping kitchen floor, grasping his wrist and dragging him behind me into the bathroom. I turned on the shower and stripped down to my boxers, feeling slightly more self-conscious that I had originally anticipated. What would Eren say at seeing me naked? Did I even have the courage to go through with it?

As it turns out: hell yes, I did.

We kicked our underpants off and onto the floor, leaping into the hot shower and awkwardly banging heads in the confined area. The glass door quickly misted over, concealing us from the rest of the house, and making us feel like we were living in our own little universe. A universe where there was nothing except scalding hot water, steam, soap, and unbearably arousing sensations, like Eren's muscled thigh casually brushing against mine as he shifted his stance.

He leaned across me to adjust the temperature of the water, rubbing his crotch against my abdomen in doing so.

Shit. What a horribly embarrassing time to get a boner.

I tried my best to conceal my reaction, turning away to replace my shampoo on the shower rack. Although this plan failed dismally when Eren caught on to the situation, and sneakily squeezed my butt from behind.

"You little devil!" I gasped, tremors of arousal shooting through my dripping body.

Eren chuckled, spinning me around to face him before he pushed me against the damp shower wall, forcibly ramming his tongue down my throat. I cried out in surprise, before quickly adjusting to and melting into the rough kiss, tugging at Eren's hair as his tongue tickled the roof of my mouth. I wrapped my leg around the back of his, pulling him closer into me to deepen the effect of my tongue against his, the both of us mewling quietly as the friction gradually became too much. We broke apart, barely able to breathe, as the shower cascaded warm water down upon us. I gazed longingly at Eren, noticing every little detail: how the pearly droplets clung to his torso, shimmering stunningly and drawing my eyes into every little beautiful crevice of his body.

"You're getting better at that," Eren growled, stepping away from me so that I could prise my heated skin away from the cool, tiled wall.

My heart was still thumping away within my bare chest, and my arousal wasn't going to settle down anytime soon. So I decided to please Eren even more by slamming him against the wall instead, ramming my knee between his legs and sucking on his bottom lip, revelling in the drawn-out moan that escaped him. We both gasped for air before recommencing the kiss, this time fighting for dominance, although I quickly lost control. Eren flipped us around and shoved me against the glass doors, reaching behind me and flicking the shower off as the door opened and we tumbled out onto the floor. The rug softened our landing as Eren knelt on top of my chest, kissing me into a heavenly oblivion.

The sun had risen during the time we had spent in the shower, and a soft morning glow captured us in a spotlight as we lay on the bathroom floor, feeling as natural as could be. Eren's sodden hair dripped onto my chest when he raised his head for breath, and he quickly lowered it again and licked the shimmering drops off my skin, his hot tongue lingering between the open mouthed kisses, and causing my entire body to light on fire.

"Your face is really flushed," Eren breathed, caressing my neck as he whispered in my ear, rendering me incapable of speech. "I haven't seen you like this before now. What changed, Levi? It feels like your instinct is taking over completely."

I groaned madly in the back of my throat, overpowering feelings controlling my reactions, yet they were sensations that infuriated and confused me, although I could tell that Eren felt a similar way. I wrapped my hands around his back, clutching at his toned shoulders and smirking slightly as he bit his lip and blushed.

My hands moved over his back, eventually coming to rest amid his brown locks, where I made to pull him down into a chaste, inviting kiss. But fuck my luck; the doorbell rang, and an anxious voice reverberated through the apartment, making me feel like I could tear my own head off.

"Eren! Levi! Answer the damn door, I have news!"

Eren rolled off me, crouching cutely on the carpet and gazing with interest in the direction of the front door. God damn you Mikasa, I thought I was in for some there...

I held a finger to my lips, instructing Eren to keep quiet as I too moved into a kneeling position. However Mikasa continued to yell, steadily growing in volume until her cried echoed painfully around my head.

"Get out here! I know you're in there, and whatever the hell you're doing, it can wait until later!"

Oh really? How about you reconsider that statement after you've put yourself in my shoes. Or more like my heavily aroused lower regions.

"Eren! I swear I will break down this door! You have to come, Armin's here!"

"Armin?!" Eren exclaimed, jumping as I slapped him on the ass for breaking our silence. "Hang on a sec!"

He seized my hand and dragged me from the bathroom and into the bedroom, retrieving two pairs of boxers from the drawers before hurriedly stepping into a loose pair of cotton trousers and wrapping a hooded sweatshirt around his shoulders. He hurried to the door, grabbing the key from the coffee table as I rushed to dress myself into similar attire, sprinting after him just in time to open the door.

Mikasa's glowering face burst into the room without permission, dragging with her a nervous looking teenager. I guessed he was around Eren's age, maybe a little younger.

"Armin!" Eren choked, hurrying into an embrace with the boy, happy tears clinging to both their eyelashes.

The kid had a striking crop of blonde hair that fell just below his ears, a buff fringe stopping just short of crystal blue eyes and a pale, round face.

"Umm," I muttered, edging closer to Mikasa as the two teens laughed happily at each other. "I don't mean to be disparaging, but who the hell is this kid?"

"Armin Arlert, our orphanage roommate," Mikasa replied curtly, closing the front door as the four of us advanced into the apartment. "I ran into him in town today and he asked to see Eren. So I brought him here."

God damn you kid. You owe me some sex.


	22. Chapter 22

"Oh, your hair's wet," Mikasa exclaimed, only just noticing my dripping locks. "I hope we didn't interrupt your shower, or anything."

"Not my shower, exactly," I replied tetchily, hints of trepidation creeping into my voice as I saw her next question building in her grey eyes.

"So, what were you and Eren dong then?"

Nosy bugger, that Mikasa Ackerman.

"Oh, the usual," I mused, smirking as I began to imagine what her reaction was going to be. "Just making out, naked on the bathroom floor."

"You-you what?!" Mikasa screeched, her entire face flooding scarlet as she balled her hands into fists, advancing towards me like a rampaging bull. "Just say that again, mister!"

"Woah, easy there lassie!" I exclaimed amusedly, backing away comically with my hands raised on either side of my head. "Nothing else happened! Just a heap of hot, naked kissing on the bathroom carpet."

Mikasa growled menacingly in the back of her throat, and I actually found myself fearing an early demise. However, Eren interrupted her rampage, breaking away from Armin at last and hurrying to step between us.

"I would really appreciate it if you two wouldn't try to kill each other today," he sighed, shaking his head in disbelief. "Old friends catching up here, so you're going to have to get along for a while. And preferably for the rest of your lives. That'd be great, thanks..."

And with that slightly astounding statement, Eren grasped Armin's arm - no pun intended, shut the hell up - and dragged him into the kitchen, plonking the both of them down into chairs and quickly submerging themselves in conversation.

Mikasa and I glared at each other, both trying to fathom the idea that we were going to have to get along for the rest of our lives. Thinking about it, it was true. After all, if I wanted to spend all my days with Eren, then I would have to deal with his sister at the same time. Although, as much as I hated to admit it, she was starting to grow on me.

I sighed and gave up our staring contest, sauntering into the kitchen to find Eren raiding the cupboards like some sort of starved child.

"Are you incapable of not eating?!" I cried incredulously, slamming the door shut and almost trapping his fingers. "If you two could just sit down civilly, then I'll whip something up. It is almost lunch time, I guess."

Eren blushed slightly as he retreated to the kitchen table, rubbing his stomach as it growled hungrily. Wow, guess he really did need to eat.

"I don't know what's up with me at the moment, I think I might be growing," Eren mumbled, taking a seat opposite Armin, who was keeping politely quiet whilst living in my presence. "I just want to eat all the time!"

"There's nothing wrong with that," Mikasa stated bluntly, barging into the room and helping herself to an apple from the fruit bowl.

Jesus, she could at least have had the courtesy to ask!

"You're still young, which means you need a nutritious, healthy diet in order to grow and develop properly."

Was she implying that my cooking was insufficient?

"Don't talk like you're ancient," I snapped, heaving ingredients onto the work surface and reaching for a nearby saucepan. "I'm the one who's old in this room. Compared to me, you're all microscopic bugs."

Eren snorted into his sleeve, covering his mouth to hide his sniggers. However Mikasa seemed less than impressed. She placed her hands stubbornly upon her hips and scrutinized me suspiciously, until Armin finally decided to speak.

"Um... excuse me?" he piped up anxiously, his voice somewhat reminiscent of a small mouse. "I was just wondering something. Err, I don't mean to be rude, but who are you?"

The saucepan fell from my hands and clattered to the floor, a resounding crash deafening us as I turned to Mikasa in shock.

"So do you mean to tell me," I began, causing Eren to burst out laughing. "That you brought this kid into my home without even telling him who owned the bloody place?!"

Mikasa nodded, her usually confident aura sapping away by the second.

"That's just disrespectful," I scoffed, picking up the pan and continuing to prepare the lunch. "Even I would feel uncomfortable in that kind of situation."

"No, it's honestly fine," Armin said, waving an uncomfortable hand towards me and faking a small smile.

Damn, this kid was way too polite.

I decided to ignore the situation - which was apparently the same for Mikasa - and continued preparing lunch, narrowly avoiding burning my arm on the steam from the kettle as I poured boiling water onto the pan full of dried spaghetti. I won't congratulate myself for being an amazing chef, because I very clearly wasn't, but it's the thought that counts, I guess. I set the electric timer that was magnetized to the side of the fridge before I sidled into the living room, feeling embarrassingly awkward around Eren and Armin, almost like I was unwanted within my own apartment. Surprisingly, Mikasa followed me, an understanding look on her face. I leant against the wall, sighing helplessly as I listened to the heated conversation in the next room, feeling strangely rejected.

I felt a cold, slim hand rest gently on my shoulder, and I whipped around in shock, only to find myself face to face with Mikasa.

"You really love Eren, don't you?" she asked me, keeping her hand firmly in place even as I tried to twist away from her touch.

"So what if I do?" I replied defensively, glaring at her suspiciously. "Are you going to punch me if I admit it?"

Mikasa shook her head in denial, her eyes drooping closed as an unfamiliar emotion momentarily flitted across her face. Could it be that she was ashamed of herself?

"I'm not going to do anything to you," she sighed, finally removing her trembling hand from my shoulder. "In fact, I wanted to apologise to you."

"Apologise?" I exclaimed, considerably taken aback. "Why?"

"I have been quite horrible to you since we first met," Mikasa admitted, beginning what I could foresee to be a enormous monologue. "And I think it was because I was jealous. I was envious of the person whom Eren valued over me, and I'm not afraid to admit it. I had my moment of weakness, and unfortunately I took out my frustration on you, the person who had come between me and Eren. However, even after I denied it hundreds of times in my head, you're a pretty great guy, if a bit shady. And I couldn't have asked for anybody better to take care of my little brother. So this is me, saying sorry in my own weird way. But also, handing over my precious Eren into your care. As much as I hate to admit it, I trust you, as you've stayed beside him through all of the turmoil the world threw at you, and I respect you for that. So don't look so miserable, because even though Eren is with someone else at the moment, I can promise that he is thinking of you, and that he will definitely come back to your side. That's all I'm going to say."

She began to turn her back to walk back into the kitchen, but I felt a strange impulse to say something to her, which resulted in me seizing the back of her pale pink shirt and pulling her back around the doorframe. She squeaked slightly in surprise - in a similar way to Eren, now I think about it - before slapping my hand away, looking like she was ready for a fight.

"Sorry, sorry," I said, mentally slapping myself for activating her protective survival instincts. "I didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to tell you that Eren will be cared for, and I will do my best to make you like me. Although I do appreciate you telling me you trusted me with your brother; that's a first in my life, thanks. I get the feeling that you and I will always have our conflicts. That we will fight and fall out just like brother and sister in law usually do. However, Eren brought us together, so I'll forgive you every time for his sake. Just like I forgive you now for coming down on me. I do understand: right now I feel like pounding that blonde into the ground."

Mikasa smiled slightly at this last comment, sticking to her promise of silence and walking away from me. I let the material of her shirt slip out of my fingers, and my arm fell limply back to my side. I gazed at the kitchen door where Mikasa had just vanished, still listening to Eren and Armin's conversation, which had become much more vibrant since I had left the kitchen.

Oh shit! The spaghetti!

I skidded on the floorboards as I sprinted into the room, startling all its occupants as I hurtled to the stove, quickly turning out the gas as I glared angrily at the electric timer. Damn piece of garbage, doesn't even go off when it says it will. So not worth the 900 yen...

The spaghetti was only slightly crisp on the edges, so it was still perfectly fine to serve. I dished it into four bowls, that obviously didn't match, but before I could make the first of two journeys to deliver them, Armin came skipping over to assist me.

Well, I suppose the kid could eventually grow on me.

He took his own and Eren's portions, and I handed the third one to Mikasa, before throwing forks to everyone. Mikasa caught hers without even looking at it, Armin made a cup with both his hands and looked chuffed when he successfully prevented it's fall, whereas Eren fumbled in mid air and ended up sprawling face down onto the kitchen floor, laughing as he scrambled around. I sniggered at him as I opened my mouth wide to accommodate a large helping of spaghetti, helping him up with an amused nudge of my foot.

"You still don't know who I am, do you?" I said to Armin, extending my spaghetti-free hand towards him. "The name's Levi Ackerman, and I am honoured with the pleasure of fucking your little friend here."

Eren choked on his spaghetti.


	23. Chapter 23

"Levi!" he exclaimed, humiliated and horrified as his face turned bright purple.

Mikasa - greatly to my surprise - chuckled as she ate her lunch in the corner, which again was surprising to me, as I wouldn't originally have expected her to touch anything I had cooked. I stepped back from the blonde, smugly pleased with my handiwork. Eren stared imploringly around the room, looking at everything except Armin's slightly abashed face. This expression of shock quickly turned into a gentle grin however, and he began to laugh carelessly, causing Eren to calm down with an extinguishing sigh.

"You guys crack me up," Armin giggled, slurping up a mouthful of spaghetti. "I knew there was something you weren't telling me! It's okay, I'm not going to be prejudice or dismissive. Love is love, no matter what."

Eren and I both nodded happily, turning towards each other to exchange caring smiles and gazes.

"You want to hang around after lunch?" Eren asked, assuming from my bland reaction that this was acceptable - which, of course, it was.

"Nah, I'd better get home," Armin denied, helpfully placing his empty bowl and fork into the sink before he headed towards the door. "Christa will start getting worried if I'm not home soon, I only told Ymir where I was going."

"You're living with those two?" Eren inquired, also dumping his own empty crockery into the sink, albeit slightly more carelessly. "I haven't heard about them in ages. How are they doing?"

"Well, Christa and I are a couple now," Armin admitted, flushing pink. "And Ymir is older than us, so she has a job and pays for the apartment until we're old enough to support her. We're doing really well."

"Oh that's fantastic!" Eren exclaimed, hurrying forward to clap his friend on the shoulder. "I always thought you guys were perfect for each other!"

"Apparently," Armin chuckled, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head as he inched towards the front door. "I'll head out now, better get home, I left my phone by accident. Maybe see you round, Eren."

"Yeah, see you," Eren grinned, pushing both him and Mikasa out of the apartment with a final wave farewell.

I gave a hurried salute from the kitchen sink, where I had set to work rinsing the dishes. Spaghetti with no sauce didn't leave much of a mess, after all.

I squeezed half a bottle of washing up liquid into the lukewarm water and swished it around. Eren suddenly jumped up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, making me shriek in surprise.

"What the?! What are you doing?"

"I want to continue where we left off," Eren breathed, turning me around so that our faces were mere centimetres from each other. "I want you, here and now on the kitchen floor."

I blushed deeply, feeling heat pool steadily in the pit of my stomach.

"E-Eren..." I stuttered, barely able to function as the teen slowly pulled me away from the sink, teasingly licking the side of my neck.

"Shhh, no words," Eren whispered, unbuttoning my shirt as I gave up all self control.

"Oh god," I moaned, feeling Eren's cool fingertips grazing softly over my flushed skin, travelling slowly down my stomach until they reached my belt.

Before I knew it I had been pushed backwards onto the floor, Eren had straddled me and removed my shirt completely, as I in turn had thrown his aside. He peppered my exposed chest with butterfly kisses, covering me with a firm but sleek pressure, and skilfully sending me into a state of total bliss. His hand pulled my jeans down my legs as he distracted me by sucking hard on an earlobe, and within seconds he was palming my erection through the thin material of my boxers, making arousal shoot up and down my entire body. Stars popped in front of my vision as I cried out in pleasure, lifting my hips into his touch.

Eren smirked as he delved his hand into my boxers, grasping my member tightly as my head was thrown backwards, an overload of ecstasy making me lose control of my own impulses. I wrapped my hands around him and scratched at his back, smacking my head painlessly into the hard kitchen tiles, which were of no comparison to my rapidly stiffening length. It grew and pulsed to the point of pain, which was when I started wildly begging Eren, unsure of exactly what it was that I craved, but desperate for it all the same.

Eren softly nibbled at my jaw line, caressing my nipples until they stood upright from my chest, and beginning to move his hand as it tightly grasped me, reassuring me somehow that he knew what he was doing. All the nerves I had ever experienced drained out of my body, and I felt like I was floating through space; weightless, just Eren and I, alone in this heavenly galaxy.

I suddenly felt an overwhelming need to return the indescribable pleasure he was delivering to me, so I clumsily began to slide his boxers down his legs, stopping half way when I ran out of arm and anxiously stroking a finger along his bulging cock. It was huge...

The shudder of bliss I extracted from him gave me the confidence I needed to continue, and over time, our hands began to move in rhythm together, so that our hips rocked exactly in time.

"Oh Eren," I moaned, my hair becoming damp from the exertion. "This... This feels a-amazing, I-I can't believe I waited so long to d-do this."

"This is nothing," Eren whispered, encouraging me to wrap my legs around his waist. "Do you want to go all the way? Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do," I whimpered, answering both questions without even a moment's thought. "Please, Eren, show me everything. Just me and you, let's do it. I want to express my love for you, but I can't find the words."

"This is something so special and meaningful that it does not require words," Eren replied, kissing me tenderly on the cheek. "I love you, so this is something that I want to give you."

I began to pant wantonly, feeling cool moisture beading at the tip of my length. Eren swirled it around with his thumb, causing me to violently buck my hips into his hand.

"You want it, I can tell," Eren said, his voice hitching slightly as his cock rubbed against mine. "So I'll ask you again, will you go all the way with me?"

"Eren, dammit, if I didn't want it, you'd be dead by now!" I gasped, clutching his upper arms as I felt his member rubbing insistently against my ass. "Yeah, I want it. I want is so bad that it's killing me. Please, Eren. Please! I'm all yours!"


	24. Chapter 24

Eren purred softly, trailing a hand down my stomach to grip my butt tightly, making me whimper and squirm beneath him. He encircled my entrance teasingly, blocking me as I tried to push myself down onto his fingers.

"Gently, Levi," he cooed, caressing my hole before penetrating slightly, creating a slight burning sensation. "It'll take time, I don't want to hurt you. Have patience, and I promise it will be amazing."

I bit down on my lip until it bled, my length twitching expectantly as I watched Eren hotly begin to coat his fingers with saliva, licking each one carefully, to make sure he could prepare me to the extent of his skill. He slid his sticky touch back down to my entrance, gently encircling it until I was comfortable with the sensation. It was strange and different to me, almost alien in a way, and yet I trusted Eren to guide me through all hell, so apprehension was not an emotion that ever crossed my mind. His finger moved gently inside me, only advancing a few centimetres at a time, but eventually burying itself in up to the first knuckle.

I winced slightly, trying to hide any discomfort from Eren as he worked, but failing dismally. Eren planted two encouraging kisses on my lips, penetrating his finger further up to the second knuckle, rubbing the side of my neck with his nose to comfort me. I wouldn't exactly describe it as painful, although there was a little there, but nothing worth complaining at. I would say it was more of a bond of trust, connecting us in an irreplaceable way.

I took a deep breath, trying to relax my entire body as I let Eren take my virginity.

He withdrew his finger, altering the angle slightly before he added his middle finger in, as well as the index, stretching me even further. I felt like I was about to split in two, and I suddenly lurched forward as Eren curved his fingers inside me, brushing against an extremely sensitive spot that I never knew I concealed. I cried out, clutching onto Eren's body as he removed his fingers and pressed back in, a third - his ring finger - now added in to the mix. My head was a blur with new found pleasure and I could barely control my responses to any form of stimulation.

I barely even noticed the change as Eren's fingers slid out of me, to be replaced by his huge, hard, throbbing length, filling me to the brim. Eren sighed deeply as he sat stationary inside me, seemingly unaware of the fact that my legs were shaking and my stomach was burning. I raised my resistant thighs and wrapped them around Eren's waist, pulling him even further into me. I felt at breaking point, but I didn't care.

Just move, damn you.

Eren seemed to read my mind, and began to thrust gently, grazing against my insides and making me whine in need.

"Ahh, Levi," Eren hissed, his eyes drifting closed as he gripped my hips. "You feel so good... I can barely control myself."

"Go nuts," I replies shakily, my voice trembling due to overload of pleasure. "I'll be fine; I'm a big boy. Besides, I want to feel even better than this."

Eren grimaced slightly as he tried and failed to respond, instead speeding up his movements as I had requested and making the both of us see stars. My length twitched slightly, abandoned and unattended to until now. Eren took both of our cocks messily into one fist, rubbing them together and creating perfect friction between us, pumping clumsily as we both let out desperate groans. Eren began to pound ferociously into me, all self restraint lost as he sought after his release, finding my sweet spot once more in the process and reading my reactions. My face was slack as he fucked me into heaven, my mouth open wide in bliss, my eyes closed tight to savour the wonderful moment I was living.

I felt myself building to a peak, like reaching the summit of the mountain after a long climb, and I scratched at Eren's back, leaving desperate, red nail marks in his skin as I groaned out loud. I felt him rapidly speeding up his thrusts, building himself to climax as I followed his lead, crying his name as my length gave one final twitch before spewing my load across my chest, feeling Eren shoot his own juices far into my body, sighing in pleasure before pulling out. We collapsed, side by side on the kitchen floor, breathing heavily as we slowly descended from our high.

I suddenly became aware of how filthy we were, splattered with semen, saliva and sweat. Eren turned his flushed head towards me and kissed me tenderly on the lips, his exhaustion showing as the dominance faded from his gentle, green eyes.

"We should get cleaned up," he said softly, brushing my unkempt hair out of my face before heaving himself to his feet.

"Back to the shower," I responded, taking the hand he offered me and standing up shakily.

Eren nodded happily, letting me lead him into the bathroom, running his free hand through my hair as we pushed the door closed behind us.

"We'll wash and dry off," Eren suggested, turning the shower on to a pleasantly cool temperature. "And then, whether you like it or not: I am giving you a haircut!"

"No you're bloody not," I exclaimed, climbing into the lukewarm shower and tipping my head back into the steady stream of water.

"Oh come on, trust me," Eren replied, squeezing in beside me and rubbing his chest clean. "I used to cut Armin's hair at the orphanage! Mikasa wouldn't let me do hers though."

"And I wonder why that was?!" I mocked, thoroughly enjoying the teasing torment I was inflicting upon him. "Could it have been because you're a liability with a pair of scissors?"

"Shut up!" Eren laughed, splashing me in the face with a handful of cold water. "I actually did a pretty good job! Mikasa's just a bit funny about wanting to do everything herself, that's all. Just let me try, would you? What's the worst that can happen?"

I contemplated this for a moment before replying. What was the worst that could happen? I decided to be snarky.

"Hmm, well, you could accidentally deliver me a fatal wound to my neck with the scissors, or impale me with them. You could drop them and chop my nose off, not to mention getting carried away and shaving me bald..."

"Alright, alright!" Eren interrupted, slapping me playfully on the arm to cut my rant short. "I promise I won't do any of those things. I'll do it properly, you'll be pleased. Just let me try. If I mess it up, then you can punish me in any way you like."

A wide variety of dirty scenarios began flitting through my mind as an evil grin appeared on my face.

"Oh, what the hell, fine!" I smirked, tugging on the ends of my overgrown crop of straggly ebony. "Go for it, babe. I'll look forward to punishing you."

I winked seductively at Eren who blushed scarlet and turned away, my previous fondling of 'babe' obviously still taking an effect upon him.

We finished showering and hurriedly dried off, throwing on a set of clean, casual clothing before mopping up the kitchen floor. It appeared I had become what I feared I had: humanity's strongest clean freak.

"You got any raincoats, or whatnot?" Eren asked, dragging a wooden chair into the centre of the kitchen floor. "Oh, and take off your jumper."

"Say what now?!" I exclaimed, caught unawares as I clumsily extracted the aforementioned raincoat from the stand beside the front door, causing all the other hats and coats to tumble onto the ground.

I cursed as I hurried back to Eren, handing him the raincoat and finally interpreting his previous request, unzipping my jumper and peeling it off as he expanded on his words.

"So that we don't get hair on your pullover," Eren explained, catching said garment as I threw it to him and hanging it over the side of the kitchen table. "Now, take a seat, my beauty. We're going to give you a trim!"

I blushed pink at his words as I settled into the seat he gestured towards, draping my raincoat around my bare, bony shoulders, and shuddering slightly as the cold plastic chilled my skin. However, this previous shiver was quickly forgotten as Eren pressed his fingers into my scalp from behind, sizing up my messy head and gently tugging on each strand of hair.

It felt amazing, and I bit my lip to hold back a moan, relaxing and tilting my head back slightly into Eren's stomach. I felt him chuckle slightly at this as my eyes drifted closed, and he supported my head from behind, encouraging me to sit upright. I protested; the prospect of lying content in Eren's arms was far too desirable.

"You have to support yourself!" Eren giggled, forcing me into a straight back sitting position, and reaching for his wide variety of extravagant supplies. "Otherwise it'll be uneven."

I grunted slightly, shifting in my seat as I gazed interestedly at what Eren had prepared, apparently when I had been searching for my raincoat. He had somehow got his hands on an empty disinfectant bottle (at least it bloody better have been empty) and filled it with water. There was also a thin comb that was unusually not broken, a razor that I had looked over whilst throwing them away, a bottle of shaving cream, a small towel, and a pair of sharp scissors.

"Don't you dare cut me," I warned him sternly, jumping slightly as he began to spray my hair softly with water. "Jesus, that's cold."

"Oh dear, I do apologise," Eren mockingly said, squirting an icy jet down the back of my neck, purely intended to tease. "Just trust me and chill, okay? I can do this."

"What are the razor and shaving cream for?" I warily asked him, already aware of his intentions, but not so willing to cooperate. "They look slightly sinister to me."

"I was just thinking you were in need of a quick shave!" Eren chuckled, bonking me cutely on the head with the edge of the water spray. "I do it myself without even looking in the mirror, don't worry yourself. I'm multi-talented!"


	25. Chapter 25

I snorted in amusement, tearing my wandering gaze away from the razor as Eren approached me with the scissors in one hand, and the comb in the other. For some reason, catching sight of the glinting, metal blades had sparked the need to cut myself again, despite even my determined promise to abandon my old ways. I shook my head violently, narrowly missing catching my temple on the sharp edge of the scissors as Eren backed away from me.

"Damn you, keep still!" he hissed, wrenching my head back into the correct position as he approached me once more, a little more warily than before. "I almost chopped your skull in half!"

"You said there was no chance of you doing that," I sneered, laughing despite myself.

"Yes, due to no fault of my own," Eren replied, starting to drag the comb through my stubbornly persistent tangles. "You can't punish me if you end up stabbing yourself."

"Fair point," I admitted, fighting to keep my back straight as he wrestled with my hair.

It must have been a year since I had last had my hair cut, as the whole scenario was far too embarrassing to even consider. But with Eren, it was different. I had already shown him everything I had to offer, both good and bad, and he was still at my side, happy and cheerful as ever. Yeah, happy... It was an emotion I had almost completely forgotten until now. For so long, all I had known was fear and sadness, depression and hopelessness, and in such great quantities that it drove me to wanting to escape my own body, cut myself out of the skin that imprisoned me. But no matter how much I slashed at myself, angry and confused emotions filling my mind, I was physically unable to break free. Eren gave me freedom. He was the light at the end of my dark tunnel, the boy who forced himself into my life, knowing that there was much more behind the walls I had mentally constructed. There was more to me, so much more, and Eren Jaeger was the only person fantastically capable of drawing it out of me.

"Ouch!" I exclaimed, pulling my head free as Eren drew the comb out of my hair, one eyebrow raised sceptically down at me.

"Behave yourself," he snapped, the metallic sound of scissors snipping off the ends of my hair reaching my ears. "You're not a baby!"

I mimicked his voice and stuck my tongue out at him, acting more like a baby than I had when I actually was infantile! I received another slap to the back of the head for that...

Eren worked around me for about thirty minutes, hair steadily accumulating into a messy pile on the kitchen tiles, with me becoming steadily more sleepy by the second. I was half way through planning a refreshing nap on the sofa when Eren stepped back, brushing his hands together and admiring his handiwork.

"Done?" I asked him, leaning around to gaze, surprised, into the mirror that hung above the stove. "Holy crap! This actually looks really good!"

"And I bow!" Eren laughed, taking a joking bow before heading back towards me. "Now let's just clean your face up and you'll be looking as suave as the king of England!"

"England doesn't have a king at the moment," I chuckled, settling myself back into my chair. "At least, not since he died. Or something, I don't know... I hate history."

Eren laughed and unceremoniously sprayed my face with water, making me cough and splutter as I accidentally swallowed some. I concluded from this that the bottle hadn't originally been entirely devoid of disinfectant...

I closed my eyes as he spread shaving cream around my face, trying to get used to this unfamiliar feeling. Obviously I had shaved before, but I had never experienced anybody else doing it for me, and even though it was Eren, I was slightly nervous.

However, the whole process went smoothly - no pun intended, honestly - and I ended up evacuating my seat feeling refreshed and clean, and looking pretty fucking amazing. Eren seemed to be ecstatic as he cleaned the kitchen, staring cheekily at me as I admired my reflection in the kitchen mirror.

"You're looking dapper," he said, sidling over to me and sweetly helping me to put my hooded jumper back on. "So good in fact, that I honestly can't stop myself from saying what I'm about to say. Levi, will you go on a date with me?"

I stubbed my toe on the corner of the table leg in shock, turning to stare incredulously at his adorably anxious face. The answer was obvious as hell, (yes!) but I was confused as to why he was even thinking about the possibility of me denying his offer.

"Of course I will!" I exclaimed, kissing him on the cheek as we both blushed. "No chance I could ever deny that from such a pretty face. Where do you want to go?"

"Well, Mikasa texted me this morning saying that a new place had opened a few streets down. Koibito Restaurant, it's quite upper class, has a really delicious menu, and I kind of already booked the table..." Eren blushed as he explained this, looking absolutely irresistible. "So will you do me the honour?"

"Damn it, you're the best!" I laughed, hugging him tightly as I checked the clock. "I can't think of anything I'd rather do with my evening. What time do we need to be there?"

"I booked the table for 6 o'clock tonight," Eren said, also checking the time. "So we still have a couple of hours to get ready, not that we'll need that long. We're not women of course!"

"Yeah, I heard girls take a hell of a long time to get dressed," I chuckled, draping my arm around Eren's shoulders as we headed over to the sofa in the living room.

Eren and I sat beside each other on the settee, both of us too tired to watch any television. My fingers were entwined with his, pale skin fused with gentle tan, our bodily warmth shared between us. We wiled our time away, daydreaming and simply enjoying each other's company, until the clock struck 5.30pm, and we decided that it was time to get ready. Looking back, we had possibly left it a little late.

I hurtled into the bedroom and wrenched open my wardrobe, throwing clothes frantically over my shoulder as I searched for something suitable to wear. I eventually settled on a pair of dark denim jeans, brown leather shoes that were only slightly scuffed up, a circular metal pendant on a black material string, and a pure white woollen sweater, a knee length black coat draped fetchingly over the top. I gazed at myself in the bedroom mirror, feeling quite impressed at how smartly I cleaned up.

Eren knocked twice on the door before he pushed it open, appearing in the bedroom and making my jaw drop through the floor. He was dressed in a sassy black suit, with matching shiny boots and a goddamn bowtie, not to mention the crisp white shirt that was just visible beneath the jacket, and the smart silver watch that hung sexily around his left wrist.

Compared to him, I looked like I had just rolled out of a hedge into a ditch.

"Hell, you look amazing!" I exclaimed hoarsely, my mouth dry from the mere sight of him. "Where'd you acquire that getup? You didn't bring any bags."

"I asked Mikasa to drop it off when I replied to her text this morning," Eren explained. "She rented it for me from a store near the house, and left it outside the door today when she was passing. I fetched it when you were getting changed in the bedroom."

"It's hot," I admitted, walking towards him and fiddling with the velvet bowtie that was fastened in the junction between his white shirt collar, and his attractively tanned neck. "I can't believe I'm going out with you tonight."

"While we're on that subject," Eren said, his voice hitching slightly as I lightly kissed the base of his throat, inhaling his cologne as my stomach churned. "We'd better get going: don't want to be late!"

"You're the boss," I replied, taking the arm he extended towards me and hurriedly grabbing the house and car keys from their place on the coffee table. "But I'm driving!"

"That's probably a good idea, seeing as I can't drive!" Eren chuckled, assisting me by closing the door and ramming the key into the lock. "You'll have to teach me sometime."

"I definitely will," I said, descending the stairs with an excited spring in my step. "At least, when I suddenly decide that I want to die horribly by plummeting to my death from a bridge, trapped inside a burning vehicle with an incompetent fool."

"Oh shut up!" Eren laughed, ramming me in the ribs as we exited the apartment building and located my car, which was in desperate need of a wash.

I took the driver's seat as Eren settled himself shotgun, rubbing his hands together in the chilly November air. I started the ignition and the engine roared into life. I turned to Eren, silently asking for directions. He pointed me left down an almost deserted street, and I swung the car around, indescribably excited for the night ahead of me.


	26. Chapter 26

We drove through the icy November evening, already feeling our way through the dark (not literally, my lights do work) as the sun had already dipped down below the rooftops, leaving a dusky blue glow in the sky. I drove down the roads, which were unusually free of traffic, following Eren's careful, timely instructions until we pulled up in the car park of Koibito Restaurant, only a couple minutes later.

We hurried out of the car and into the building, meeting a slightly frustrated waitress at the doors, who glared at Eren's watch as she ushered us into the entrance hall. Come on woman, we're only 3 minutes overtime!

We were lead through fancy corridors and up marble staircases, lined with red carpet, decorated fancily with polished mahogany banisters and tables, ceramic vases filled with intricately arranged flowers resting on their smooth surfaces. I gazed in awe around the entire building as we proceeded through it, slightly astonished that a person like Levi Ackerman was heading towards a posh dinner in a place like that.

Eren held my hand gently in his as we walked into the enormous dining hall, only breaking apart when we were shown to our table and seated opposite each other, with a romantic candle burning between us. The cutlery and crockery looked more expensive than my entire outfit, and the menus appeared to be printed onto blocks of wood, but upon closer inspection I found them to be thick cardboard, with fancy writing informing me of the night's choices.

Eren and I delved into them in silence, and stayed there for a few minutes, trying desperately to decide on something to eat. Everything was far to delicious, and I found my stomach was growling with hunger, intensifying with every word I read.

"I think I want the miso soup," Eren said, setting his menu back down beside the candle. "It comes with muscles."

"Hmm, you sure that'll be enough food for you?" I mused, deciding on my own dish at last. "I mean you tend to be quite greedy. But you can always have some of mine I suppose. I'm going to have the chirashi sushi, looks delicious."

"Oh stop teasing me!" Eren giggled, moving my abandoned menu away from the candle, to reduce the risk of burning the restaurant to the ground. "It'll be plenty!"

"Alright then, how do we order?" I asked naively, looking over my shoulder for the grumpy waitress. "I don't think you can just shout and chuck a handful of money in here. We might get thrown out."

"Don't worry, I won't," Eren replied, kicking me lightly under the table. "I think we just raise a hand or something; there are a few waiters standing over by the doors through to the kitchen, they might see us."

I waved absurdly in the air, possibly exaggerating the gesture a little too much, as the waiter who approached looked slightly taken-aback. It wasn't until he drew closer to us however, that I actually recognised him. And I achieved this just a nanosecond before Eren did.

"Armin?!" he exclaimed, a wide grin gracing his handsome face. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey kid!" I greeted, smiling as happily as I ever did as he stood beside our table, clad smartly in a uniform that looked slightly out of place on his scrawny body, and definitely clashed with his buff blonde hair.

I'll admit it, the kid had grown on me.

"Hi guys," Armin replied, lowering his voice slightly as he leant towards us. "You out on a date?"

"Yep," Eren responded, a smug smirk upon his face as he noticed my pink cheeks. "Our first! It's funny that we'd get you for a waiter, I didn't even know you worked here!"

"I got a part time job as soon as it opened," Armin explained, collecting our menus and tucking them under one arm. "So can I take your order, sirs?"

I jumped slightly at being referred to this way - I never got used to it, no matter how often it happened.

"Yes, thank you. We'd like the sushi and the miso soup, please," Eren requested, putting on an air similar to that of a snooty rich person, or moneyed assholes, as I liked to call them.

"Coming right up," Armin clarified, bowing slightly before turning away and heading back into the kitchen.

I could tell both he and Eren had been trying hard not to laugh.

I sighed, leaning back comfortably in my chair and trying to think of a topic of conversation to occupy us as we waited. Luckily enough, Eren thought of something before I did.

"So," he began, looking slightly anxious as he ventured into the world of questions. "How much of my stuff am I going to be allowed to bring to your, or rather, our apartment?"

"You finally caught on!" I chuckled, raising my hands above my head in triumph. "You can bring anything you like! Clothes especially, and anything you treasure or think we could put to good use. Not to mention any furniture! Although obviously we will have to buy some new things."

"Like what?" Eren asked, cocking his head to the side cutely.

"Well, we'll need to get a double bed, or I'll shove you out onto the floor someday," I answered, amusement in my voice at the thought of it. "And the place really needs new wallpaper and carpets, which we can choose together. We're going to need another wardrobe in the bedroom, new shelves in the bathroom, maybe some nicer seats in the living room too. But that all depends on how much money we have. Damn I need a job!"

"We'll find you something," Eren comforted. "I'll be able to work soon too. I have some money back at my house which Mikasa doesn't know about - got it from a few summer jobs and hid it under the floorboards - so I can put that towards getting new things for the house. I'll bring some clothes over, and I could actually fit my own wardrobe in the boot of the car, so that'll be one less thing we have to buy. I don't have much that I actually care about, maybe a few books, so that shouldn't take up too much space in our apartment!"

I nodded, exhilaration flooding through me at the thought of moving in together with Eren, and having him around all the time. I wake up, and he's there. I get back from work, and he's there. I go to bed, and he's there. I couldn't think of a better way to spend the rest of my life.

"The food is here!" Eren gasped, rubbing his hands together happily as Armin approached us, carrying two steaming plates in each of his hands, with what looked like a drinks menu held under one arm.

"Here is your order," he said, setting them down before us and handing Eren the menu. "Please choose your drinks."

"Ooh!" Eren gasped, his eyes lighting up like he'd just seen a giant, walking doughnut. "I'd like the mugicha, please!"

"And I'll have a nice glass of sochu," I requested, passing the menu back to Armin and raising my eyebrows cheekily towards Eren. "And be quick about it, boy!"

Armin squeaked a little as he skidded back into the kitchen, hurrying back out with our drinks mere minutes after he had left, returning just in time to witness Eren slap my arm as I roared with laughter.

The food was delicious, the drinks were exquisite, but the company I was in topped everything a hundred times over. Eren was incredible. He never stopped smiling, not once throughout the entire evening, and he gave me the best first date I could ever have asked for. Honestly, people could easily consider me a slut, what with having slept with my boyfriend before we'd even been out, but I couldn't care less. I wasn't normal, nor was I trying to be so, and in any case, I was simply happy to finally have someone beside me who had no intentions of leaving.

Once every single spec of food was gone from our plates, and every last drop had disappeared from our glasses, we stood up from the table, and waved farewell to Armin through the misted kitchen window. He waved back absent-mindedly, ducking out of sight as we began the usual argument over who would pay the bill. I was too full to argue much, so I let Eren treat me after a few casual protests, smiling fondly at him as we navigated our way out of the restaurant.

We clambered back into the car and drove back home, admiring the lights that spread across the tarmac in front of us, as the streetlamps and stars glinted brightly, almost making it seem like the modern world and the natural world had joined together to provide us with this beauty.

We pulled up outside the apartment just as the clock struck 8.45pm, and the temperature gauge on my car dashboard dropped below freezing for the first time that evening. Neither of us was particularly warm, so we hurtled back upstairs to the house as fast as we could, eventually sprinting into the living room and collapsing onto the sofa.

I turned to gaze into Eren's shining green eyes, his cheeks pink from the cold, only to find him staring lovingly back, slowly inching his hand closer to mine.

"I had a great time tonight," I smiled, laying my palm gently on top of his fingers in an attempt to warm them up. "Thank you for taking me out."

"No problem, babe," Eren replied, chuckling as I too blushed at the cursed word.

Oh well, I guess I deserved a bit of my own medicine.

"It's pretty late, and I'm stuffed to the brim. How about we just head off to bed?" I suggested, suddenly feeling ashamed of my own stupidity.

"It's not even nine o'clock yet!" Eren exclaimed, squeezing my hand as I flushed even darker. "But I will admit to being quite tired myself. Alright, let's change and get to bed."


	27. Chapter 27

I followed Eren into the bedroom, changing into a pair of sky blue, cotton pyjamas before heading into the bathroom. When I returned, Eren was stretched out on the bed, wearing only a pair of loose, black, flannel trousers that were tied loosely around his waist. My mouth started to water as I admired every inch of his body: from his toned shoulders and torso, moving onto his muscular arms and luscious abs, finally down to where his stomach dipped slightly as it gradually became his abdomen, which was unfortunately concealed by the waistline of his trousers.

"Oy! Earth to Levi!" Eren giggled, snapping his fingers to break me out of my trance. "You coming to bed or what?"

I nodded, my voice lost due to the raw sexiness of the teen before me. It was extraordinary how masculine and mature he was, for just a boy of 19. Oh my god, that reminds me...

"Hey, Eren," I asked, settling myself under the blankets beside him as we squeezed into the single bed. "I never asked, when's your twentieth birthday? Mine's actually Christmas day, but I don't celebrate either of those."

"March 30th," Eren replied, also snuggling under the quilt as I turned out the bedside lamp. "And why not?"

"Well, given that my parents died on that day, it's not one that holds overly happy memories for me," I said sarcastically, flopping down into the pillow and almost head butting Eren, as he too struggled to get comfortable.

"We'll have to change that!" he exclaimed, rolling over and wrapping his arms around me, holding my head into his warm chest with the tender, caring embrace that only a lover was capable of. "Starting this year, you love Christmas! And your birthday. You may ask why? Well, I promise to make December 25th the best day of your life this year! Now have you got something to look forward to?"

"Very much so," I responded, smiling happily as my eyes drifted closed, lulling me into sleep as I breathed in Eren's heavenly scent. "Night, sweetheart."

"Goodnight, poppet," Eren said fondly, apparently entering in the sickly-sweet nicknames competition. "Sleep well."

I fell into a deep dream, feeling more contented than I had in a long time, lying peacefully up against Eren. Little did I know that this feeling of happiness would not linger for long...

I jolted awake after an unsettling dream (one of those ones where you're falling through space) and found myself to be cold and alone. Where the hell was Eren?

I leapt out of bed, unable to even find a trace of his presence in the room. I began to panic, fear capturing my heart in a cold prison, and causing me to run all around the house, searching desperately for him. My voice had vanished so I couldn't call, and every limb I possessed was shaking in agony. Where did he go? What happened?

Tears beaded in the corners of my eyes as I ransacked my own apartment, turning a chair over in my desperation as I made my way into the bathroom. I slammed the door behind me and wrenched the cupboard open, digging around until I found the one razor blade that I had neglected to dispose of.

The apartment was deserted and dirty, like Eren had never walked into my life at all. His clothes were nowhere to be seen. Nor were any of his possessions, and I couldn't detect a single trace of his scent anywhere. I could barely breathe or control myself as I roughly rolled up my sleeve, ripping the material and slitting into my wrist with the edge of the blade, losing control and loving it. I felt helpless, tormented, and mad. Had it all been a dream? Had Eren never really existed in my world? Was I completely insane?

The blood dripped down my wrist and onto the floor, but I pressed harder, the stabbing pain numb to my racing mind as I whirled myself into a pit of desperation, collapsing to the floor and digging the blade in deeper. I felt like I was bleeding my heart out onto the bathroom tiles, but I was prepared to go all the way, cut my hand off if I had to. If I took my life so be it. My world was pointless without Eren...

My head began to feel fuzzy as I fell to the floor, sprawled out beside the incarnadine puddle, slowly expanding around me. It was like a gift to me, to see my life essence ebbing away. I felt like I was dying, which I probably would have been, if the door hadn't smashed open at the very second I screamed Eren's name.

Said teen burst into the room, his face turning grey as he looked down at me, before he began to shriek incoherent words, bending down to hold me tightly in his arms.

"B-But I thought y-you'd gone," I stuttered, letting the blade fall from my hand as blood continued to pool on the floor. "Y-You left..."

"I never went anywhere, I was asleep," Eren sobbed, holding my head to his as he began to cry. "I'd never leave you, ever! What the hell do you think you're doing? You said you wouldn't do this anymore."

"You said you wouldn't cry anymore," I whispered, my memories slowly returning my sanity as tears dripped onto my cheeks.

"Well then, we both broke our promises!" Eren yelled, gripping me so tightly it hurt whilst lunging for a bandage. "You have to stop! What happened? What caused this? Answer me, damn you, answer me! You could have killed yourself!"

"You were gone, it was like the apartment was empty again," I weakly explained, wincing as the bandage was wrapped around my wrist, halting the blood flow almost immediately.

"Your mind was playing tricks on you, you must have been in some kind of illusion," Eren sobbed, his hands shaking as he let me lie in my lap. "I thought I was going to die when I heard you scream and woke up to see you gone."

"But I'm here now, and so are you," I replied, barely aware of what I was saying as I began to drift back into sleep. "Eren, I'm so tired. Help me?"

He scooped me up into his arms, kicking the bathroom door out of the way and placing me down back into bed, covering me gently over with the blankets. He stroked my face before backing out of the room again, presumably to clean the bathroom. But it was then that I started to cry, harder than I ever had before. I had let him down, I had let myself down. I was alone, I was miserable, I was injured. And who's fault was that? My own damn fault, of course. And my stupid, fucked up mind.

I continued to silently strain, tears streaming down my face, soaking the pillows as I stared at the ceiling, living in a state of utter depression until Eren reappeared. He dashed over to me and lay beside me, holding me tightly against his body and whispering comforting words into my ear.

"It's alright, calm down, please. You messed up, but it's ok, you couldn't help it, I understand. Just try and sleep now, that's all you need. Hey, it's the first day of December tomorrow! It'll be a new month, a fresh start for you. We can forget this ever happened. We can even go out shopping and redecorate our apartment together, won't that be fun? Then we can get festive for Christmas, maybe even have a party? Shhh, I love you, don't cry... I'm never going to leave. Tomorrow morning we can stay in bed all morning, if you like?"

Eren's soft voice gradually faded into the background, becoming an echo as I drifted into a dream, this time one that was full of festive fun, which made a goddamn change from my usual nightmares. I was actually looking forward to December, and everything we would do. Maybe we could host a party? Maybe we could go to the shops and choose carpets together? Maybe we could even get a Christmas tree, and some fancy lights?

I dreamed about my perfect day that night, and I hoped so much that it would come true. But there was no question about it: Eren would make it come true. Despite the terrible last few minutes, my relapse into my old ways, I felt fulfilled and contented as I fell asleep in Eren's arms.

That trance like state you enter, mid way between consciousness and unconsciousness, is something I have never been able to recall the next day, or even a minute later. But that night I remembered it, as it was a life changing time for me. I felt like Eren was vaporising my every worry and fear, sharing feelings of love between us as he halved my burdens, holding my throbbing wrist gently between his two hands.

A car drove past the window outside the little bedroom, with only a thin sheet protecting it from the rain that was lightly skimming the glass. It was cosy inside; warm and homely, yet with hints of the outside world drifting in within its walls. High in the apartment block, a bird flew past the dark window, symbolising the freedom that the morning would bring. I lay in my lover's arms, comfortable and content, dreaming about sunrise, almost like the start of a new, prodigious era. The time for pain, depression, and misery was gone. Hope had overtaken it, come swooping in like a hawk for the kill, zoning in upon all my problems, and carrying them away with the breeze. Hope had saved me, in the form of an angel that was sent to me. My hope came to me in the form of Eren Jaeger.

And oh, how I loved him.


	28. AUTHOR'S NOTE 1

Hey guys!

I'm going to insert a quick author's note in here just to make you aware of some stuff going on with this fic!  
>Firstly, I won the competition I entered it in, so what we have so far is officially finished :D<p>

However, as I promised, I have been working on the Christmas sequel and already have 3 days worth for you to enjoy, although I will admit I am very behind with my progress. I will make an effort to catch up and continue to update this story, as I am so sad to leave it behind! As I know a lot of you are too ^^" That means the world to me, this Christmas is going to be the best thing ever for me!

So, I hope you enjoy reading this like I have enjoyed writing it: drinking hot chocolate, wearing festive jumpers in my decorated house, with an amazing selection of Christmas songs playing loudly on my headphones!

Merry Christmas guys :)


	29. December 1st

I woke up feeling extremely guilty, so much that I almost felt physically sick. I had self harmed the night before, which was something I had sworn I would stop. I had taken up the habit during my mid twenties, on the anniversary of my parents' deaths (they had been brutally murdered when I was 16), and had kept it up until my lover had walked into my life, and rescued me, just a few weeks ago. Since then, my life had drastically changed, as had my outlook on the world. I was no longer a smoker and a cutter, I was no longer depressed and ill, I was no longer working in a broken down environment. Everything had changed, and a certain teenager was to thank for it. I was happy and hopeful, caring and thoughtful, motivated to make the best of what was left of my life. It wasn't long before I would be turning 34 years old - yes, I know I'm ancient - so I was determined to love and care for my partner best I could. A fear of losing my one ray of light had driven me to it, and currently I was unable to locate said shining beam. Eren Jaeger had disappeared from my squashed single bed, and was apparently wandering around the apartment naked, as his pyjama trousers and underwear lay abandoned on the floor.

Now there's a sight to see!

I pushed the blankets away from my bony body, shivering as the cold December morning surrounded me with icy air. Why the hell was the window open? I reached over and slammed it shut, silencing the early rush of traffic that sounded loudly on the streets outside. The rooftops were slightly frosty, as the sun had only half risen above the horizon. I glanced at the clock: 7:15am. I groaned and rubbed my eyes tiredly, wishing I was the kind of person who could just crawl back into bed after waking up. However I was not so lucky, and was instantly awake as soon as I began moving around in the mornings. Thus, I wrapped a hoodie - could be Eren's, could be mine, I don't give a shit - around my trembling shoulders and headed out of the bedroom into the living room.

The apartment was still a complete wreck, despite our previous promises to renovate the place. And yet, there was something different, so different in fact, that I noticed it the second I passed the bedroom threshold, despite my exhaustion.

I scanned the room for the hopefully exposed Eren, and instead found that an infestation of festivities had overtaken the entire house. Although it was obviously only part way through organising itself into a respectable fashion. Silver tinsel was draped across the sides of the furniture and sitting in clumps on the windowsills and tables, often beside large, overly full boxes of lord knows what, or strings of tiny, golden beads wrapped into coils. Bright red bows were stuck to random objects around me, and an ocean of baubles rolled in every direction around the splintered wooden floorboards, reminding me of an overcrowded birds' nesting site. Model reindeer and wooden stars were balanced precariously along the sides of the coffee table, and variously patterned blankets and jumpers hung over the back of the settee. But despite all this exuberant decor, my eyes were instantly drawn to the humongous specimen of laurel foliage that was stationary in a corner of the living room, almost completely blocking the door through to the kitchen.

I stared at it; spellbound with surprise. The uppermost branches lightly brushed against the ceiling, and the tree had to have been at least 5 feet wide at its base. I fidgeted where I stood, realising that it was almost twice as tall as my puny self... Screw you, pine tree.

At that moment, the front door swung open with a bang and Eren Jaeger finally made an appearance, although he was regrettably clothed in a pair of jeans and my white turtleneck sweater. Damn thief.

He started upon catching sight of me, and the cardboard box he had heaved through the door fell to the ground with a resounding clunk. His face flushed crimson.

"Oh bugger..." he sighed, apparently angry with himself as he pushed the door closed. "I thought you were sleeping, you weren't supposed to see this!"

He dragged the box across the floor and lugged it onto the table, struggling to keep the flaps firmly sealed, so that the contents remained invisible to my curious gaze.

"Are you mad?" Eren asked, looking apprehensively into my face. "It was supposed to be a surprise, I haven't finished yet."

"No, it looks great," I chuckled sarcastically, mentally smiling as a light hearted grin appeared on the teen's handsome face. "But seriously, it'll be amazing. How long did this take you to do? And more importantly, where the hell did it all come from?"

"I've been up since 4 o'clock this morning," Eren admitted, timely yawning and cutely stretching his arms above his head. "Had to make several journeys to get all this stuff down here. Mikasa helped me with her car, and Armin was assisting with carrying until he had to set off for work at 6.30; he's working mornings at the restaurant today."

"So everyone's helping out..." I mused, feeling slightly touched in an inexplicable way. "But why? You could have stored decorations at Mikasa's house, it would have been easier."

"We all wanted you to have an amazing Christmas, since you've never enjoyed one before," Eren explained, blushing darker still as he spoke, his words warming my heart like a roaring fire. "So we made plans to decorate the apartment to kick start your December. I bought us festively patterned jumpers, and a ton of decorations to cover every room. We all pitched in with the money, and we have plans to eat Christmas dinner together here on the 25th. I bought some ornaments and practical things like crockery and blankets. And of course, you've seen the tree."

I listened to Eren's waffling, the sudden need to cry welling up behind my dark eyes. Between him, his adopted sister, and his old orphanage roommate, they had managed to put together the best 1st of December that I had ever experienced. There was only one thing missing, and that was a morning kiss.

I walked steadily towards Eren and embraced him lovingly, brushing my lips against his and holding him tightly into my body, feeling his wintery cold cheeks as I caressed his face. When we broke apart, tears were shimmering within his deep green orbs, reflecting the pine tree perfectly. It looked ever so sparse of decoration, and for the first time in my life, I felt the need to clothe it.

"I love you!" I exclaimed to Eren, giggling at his joyous squeal as I vaulted over the back of the settee, seizing a massive handful of tinsel and skipping over to the tree. "Let's get this Christmas off to a flying start!"

I began to throw the sparkling silver scarves over the branches, scattering deep green needles around the floorboards in my exuberance. Eren soon joined me, baubles and small ornaments hanging on shining ribbon hung around his fingers. He scattered them around the tree before he lunged for a box on the left hand side of the sofa, extracting an enormous string of Christmas lights. We worked together to drape them perfectly around the tree, mingling the bulbs in amongst the tinsel and hanging decorations.

We continued along this path until we had a sparkling tree, lights plugged in and shining bright blue, lighting up the apartment so that it was the most festive that I had ever seen it. We shimmied the tree slightly away from the kitchen, so that it sat in the corner beside the front door instead, nicely out of the way, and yet still the most majestic item in the room. And we had barely started decorating yet!

We continued treating the apartment to a Christmas makeover until 11am that morning, by which time we were both starving to death, practically asleep on our feet, but exhilarated and full to the brim with festive spirit.

The apartment looked phenomenal though. All our hard work had clearly gone to a good cause. The tree glinted and glowed in the living room, matched perfectly with the spare lights and tinsel we had hung on the windowsills and around the doorframes, not to mention the wall hangings we had nailed all around, and the festive blankets draped across the furniture. The kitchen was similar, but with flashing red and green lights around the edges of the worktops, and model snowmen balanced at the back of the old table. The bathroom was almost devoid of decoration altogether - as it was not our pride and joy, as you can imagine - however we had stationed a poor sod of a wooden reindeer on the windowsill, as far away from the toilet as possible.

The bedroom also had its own supply of baubles and tinsel, but with my personal favourite string of lights: a beautiful gold stream of stars, flickering occasionally, as if blown about by a gentle winter breeze.

We took a break in mid afternoon, collapsing for a few hours and watching several of Eren's favourite Christmas movies on television, and eating our way through countless boxes of mince pies. Man, December was not going to be a healthy month if we continued like this! But sod that, it would do me good to gain some weight anyway.

The clock chimed 3pm and we were both instantly sleepy, but far too fired up with festivities to take any form of rest. It wasn't long before Eren had me trying on various Christmas jumpers, sporting oddly likeable, yet garish patterns on their woolly exteriors, my personal favourite being a bright red specimen sporting white, woven snowflakes around the chest and upper arms. I chose to wear this for the rest of the day, feeling far too lazy to change into anything else, and Eren swapped the stolen turtleneck for a green pullover with silver diamond shapes around the cuffs.

Damn; I always liked it when he wore my clothes. Although I will admit that they were starting to look too small on him. I may have to get used to the fact that he would soon be overtaking my height...

Despite the earliness of the hour, the sun had already decided to dye the sky golden and hide behind the skyscrapers, starting to make its daily detour below the horizon, to swap places with the moon for the night. I wrapped both arms around Eren's chest, pulling him into my lap. His warmth made me want to remain glued to my seat for the rest of my life, holding him close to me until the sun finally set for the both of us. He sighed happily, snuggled his face into the woolly jumper that I proudly wore, and allowed his eyes to drift closed, admitting to his tiredness at last.

I stroked his fringe out of his eyes and lay my head back against the sofa cushions, allowing myself to drift into sleep. Our festivities still burned strongly within us, but like a flagging phone, we needed to recharge for a while. Little did we know that we wouldn't arise until 8am the next morning, with stiff necks and growling stomachs, but feeling the happiest we ever had on the 2nd of December.


	30. December 2nd

My eyes flickered open and my entire spine twanged painfully, causing me to hiss with pain as Eren shifted in my lap, raising his head and yawning.

"Is your back sore too?" he asked, voicing the question that I had been seconds away from directing at him.

I nodded in response, struggling to my feet and glancing out of the window, catching sight of the lingering gold tinge in the sky; sunrise was clearly only recently complete.

"Mine's killing me," Eren groaned, groping around his nape in an attempt to soothe the burning ache we were mutually suffering with.

I felt bad simply watching him and wanted to assist somehow, however I had no experience in this kind of situation. But despite that, I wasn't willing to sit by and wallow in our pain all day - it's the second of December, for crying out loud. Eren could apparently read my mind, as he quickly leapt around behind me and dug his fist mercilessly into the groove between my shoulder blades. Instantly I felt the tension there release, even as a spasm of pain shot up my spine. I flexed my shoulders and pushed back into his hand, unsure of where this was headed. Eren however, seemed to have it all planned out.

He skilfully snaked his hands between my woollen jumper and my pale skin, kneading at the knots that had formed overnight until they all dispersed, leaving me feeling floppy and similar to lead. Nobody had ever done that for me before, and I felt indescribably grateful, as well as wanting to return the favour. However, before I could make my offer, the doorbell rang, and Eren jumped to his feet to answer it.

Who the hell was disturbing our bonding time at half past eight in the morning?

Turns out, Mikasa Ackerman was guilty with the aforementioned crime, but my frustration instantly evaporated once she had presented a massive box of candy canes. Eren had apparently forgotten to retrieve them from her car boot that morning.

"Come in for breakfast," Eren insisted, dragging her over the threshold and ignoring her protests.

I closed the front door behind her and assisted Eren in forcing her into a corner of the sofa, quickly wrestling a Christmas jumper over the top of her blouse - a rather nice item: pale pink in colour with a large white snowman on the front.

"Do you want coffee?" I shouted, clanking around with a pot and mugs in the kitchen, that was lit only by the glinting lights.

"If you two are, then sure," Mikasa replied, resigning herself to the fact that we were determined to spend the morning with her.

The morning only though, I had better plans for the afternoon.

I finished preparing the coffee and took my seat on the right hand side of the settee, next to Eren, who sat between myself and his adopted sister.

"Have you heard from Christa and Ymir at all?" Eren asked her, making small talk that even I could understand.

Christa and Ymir had also been at the orphanage at around the same time as Eren, Mikasa and Armin. I also recall that someone called Annie was present. As far as I understand it, Mikasa and Eren had broken away from the group, and had lived together until meeting me, where I had claimed my lover as my own. Christa, Ymir and Armin had bought a house together and that was the situation to this day, although I believe that Armin and Christa are something of an item.

"Not for a while actually," Mikasa admitted, sipping her coffee and warming her hands on the mug's exterior. "Although Armin did say that they both wished you guys a Merry Christmas, when he popped along this morning."

Eren nodded, taking a large gulp of his own drink and then coughing, apparently unaware that the liquid was still scalding hot. I whacked him on the back, safely placing his mug on the coffee table, and laughing when Mikasa insisted on sliding a mat underneath it.

"You don't want water rings on your table!"

What a pathetic excuse... Although she was your classic woman. Damn, I like her so much better when we're not constantly fighting! I recall the period between Eren and I first getting together, up until a few days ago, when Mikasa and I had been like the cat and the mouse: unable to agree on anything and constantly baring our teeth at each other, usually with Mikasa having the upper hand.

We continued to chatter aimlessly all through the morning, eating buttered crumpets and drinking most of the coffee in the cupboards, until the clock chimed 12pm, and Mikasa suddenly realised that she was incredibly late for some sort of important meeting. However, upon being asked what this critical appointment was, she blushed scarlet and scurried out of the door, hurriedly thanking us for the breakfast as she left.

"Curious," I muttered, vacating the living room with a stack of plates and mugs in my arms. "Where do you think she was headed?"

"Something fishy is going on with her at the moment," Eren agreed suspiciously, following me into the kitchen and assisting in washing up the crockery. "But I'll wheedle it out of her one day, mark my words."

"I'll help you figure it out!" I chuckled, heading back into the living room and collapsing onto the arm of the sofa. "I'm just as interested as you are! Now would you sit in front of me?"

Eren obediently sat cross-legged between my knees, looking awkwardly over his shoulder towards me and wincing at the movement.

"May I ask why?" he inquired, looking straight ahead again to reduce the pain in his shoulder.

"You helped me earlier, so I'm going to try and help you now!" I determinedly answered, placing my hands either side of Eren's warm neck.

He gasped at the touch, possibly out of pain, or possibly out of relief... My instincts were refusing to cooperate.

"You'll have to talk to me," I said, biting my lip as I continuously dug my thumbs into Eren's aching muscles. "Tell me what feels good, and what doesn't."

"Yeah, this is good, just like you're doing now," Eren sighed, closing his lids over his pretty green eyes.

I continued my ministrations, paying special attention to the areas on his upper back that seemed the tightest. I created sharp circles with my thumbs, pressing into him through the thick wool of his jumper. His breath hitched slightly as he rotated his shoulder blades, loosening the tension between them before he dropped his head forward, stretching his neck and allowing me to apply more pressure. Despite never having done such a thing before, I found that my hands moved naturally over Eren's body, freeing up his limbs just as he had done for me.

I soon found that the teen had become slack and barely able to support himself, so I eased him gently down onto the sofa, allowing him to lie comfortably, face down on the cushions. He mumbled peacefully, his cheek appearing cutely chubby as he rested it upon the back of his hand. I pushed my knuckles into his lower back, fitting them into a crevice on either side of his spine and causing him to let out a strangled groan.

I frowned questioningly at him, looking for reassurance that I was on the right track.

"That's it," Eren encouraged, raising his hips into my touch. "But more, harder. You won't hurt me, so don't be afraid."

I suddenly realised how lewd this would sound to someone walking past outside, as Eren wasn't making any effort to whisper, and the apartment wasn't exactly a sound-proof spy hideout. Smirking, I continued to knead Eren's back, relishing in the mewls and whines that escaped him. Despite feeling no pleasure myself, I warm tingling spread across my entire body, and I felt perfectly willing to continue with this for the rest of the day.

"How much more can you take?" I inquired, raising my hands away from him and chuckling as he shuffled in protest.

"Anything, any amount," Eren mumbled, apparently incapable of normal speech. "Just don't stop, my neck still really hurts."

I moved my hands upwards, snaking them beneath his jumper to feel his muscles skin on skin. He gasped at this touch, but my hands were already sufficiently warm, so it was clearly out of contentment and possibly surprise.

"Merry Christmas, Eren," I whispered, my lips mere millimetres from his ears. "I'm having a great time already."

"Me too," moaned Eren, twisting his head around to gently kiss my lingering palm. "I can't wait to enjoy more festive times with you."

"Yeah, me neither," I agreed, lowering my body slowly down until I lay parallel atop him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and resting my head on top of his. "How about we just stay like this until tomorrow? Is this okay on your neck?"

"Sure, it's really nice actually," Eren sighed, shifting slightly until he was able to lay a hand on top of mine. "And you're getting heavier! Must mean you're healthier."

"Oi brat," I joked, prodding him in the ribs as he chuckled playfully. "Don't you imply that I'm getting fat!"

"You may soon be fat, after all these Christmas treats," Eren yawned, rubbing his tired eyes as I slid my own closed. "But for now let's sleep. I love you, I'll kiss you hard in the morning..."

"Now I can't wait to wake up!" I exclaimed, nuzzling into his fluffy brown hair as I began to fall asleep. "Love you too, pretty boy."


	31. December 3rd

I roused myself - yet again - to find Eren's face pressed against my thigh. Although this time, he was still sleeping, and it was considerably later than the previous morning. How the hell did we manage to skip dinner, fall asleep before the sun had properly set, and still wake up at eleven o'clock?

My stomach growled at me, and I heard a threatening voice in my head, commanding me to eat something. I resisted however, wanting to stay beside the sleepy teen. Said adorable piece of snuffling cuteness was just beginning to awaken from his slumber, at around the same time that I remembered last night's promise.

Just as his sparkling green eyes flickered into sight, I leant down awkwardly into my own lap, and pressed my lips to his. Eren gasped before he wrapped his arms around the back of my neck, lifting himself out of my lap to deepen the kiss I had so longingly been awaiting. When we finally broke apart, the both of us were breathless and blushing, but smiling widely.

"Morning," Eren grinned, disentangling himself from me and shuffling into a sitting position on the sofa. "How did you sleep?"

"Surprisingly well, considering the uncomfortable pillow," I teased, chuckling as Eren made a face of amused, mock protest. "Do you fancy any breakfast?"

"When do I ever turn down food?" Eren exclaimed, leaping down from the furniture and hurrying into the kitchen. "What do you want to eat?"

"You," I simply replied, greatly enjoying the deep scarlet shade that flooded his cheeks.

Eren slowly placed the mugs he was holding back onto the work surface before approaching me, taking me completely by surprise with his next move. He stood about 3 inches away from my face for a couple of seconds, before he slowly placed his thumb between my teeth and stroked my lips. I was extremely confused, but also oddly aroused, which is not a good combination.

"W-What are you doing?" I asked nervously, my speech hindered by his thumb. "Do you want me to bite you?"

"No, I was only wondering what I would actually taste like if you did eat me," Eren replied, finally grinning as my cheeks coloured. "Ha! Now I made you blush too!"

"You little asshole," I joked, slapping him lightly on the arm as I headed over to the fridge.

We eventually decided to eat buttered crumpets, and did so in silence, both of us surprisingly exhausted, despite having had far too much sleep. But I suppose, the more of something you have, the more you want and need. It's like smoking or taking drugs. Speaking of which, I hadn't smoked a cigarette for an entire week. Be proud of me, bitches, that's no mean feat.

We proceeded into the bedroom after that, deciding to fetch some new clothes and take a shower, as we were quite disgusting people. Honestly, imagine not showering for three days straight... I shudder at the very thought nowadays, which compared to my previous self, is quite a drastic change. Two months ago, I barely showered once a fortnight, and yet now I was obsessive about cleanliness, be it bodily hygiene or the appearance of the house.

Eren decided to shower first, and splashed me in the face with boiling hot water when I attempted to peer around the misted door. When I showered, I let the heat wash over me, my hair dripping into my dark eyes, watching Eren through the glass with a beady stare. Even whilst changing clothes he looked elegant and muscular, and it made me want to look like him too. I sighed and stared down at my own skeletal, bony body, and made my decision.

"Eren?" I shouted, raising my voice over the steady pounding of the water jets onto the shower tiles.

He answered with an incoherent mumbling sound as I saw him pulling a new Christmas sweater over his slightly damp head - a navy blue item with symmetrical, white reindeer adorning the midriff.

"Is there a gym near here?" I asked, feeling slightly humiliated, yet determined as well.

"Yeah, think so," came Eren's slightly muffled reply; he had the jumper stuck around his neck. "Do you want to go today? It's a weekday, so it'll be open."

"We could, if there's nothing you want to do?" I answered, sniggering as he finally pulled the jumper down over his body.

"I'd like to go with you, I haven't worked out in a long time," Eren said, winking as I shut off the shower and caught the towel he threw to me.

A pleasant tingle shot down my spine as I imagined what Eren would look like in a gym. Clad in towel sweatpants and a tight vest, skin shining with sweat from his exertions. Lifting weights, his arm muscles would flex magnificently as he puffed for breath. My eyes glazed over as I drifted off into this daydream, only returning to earth when Eren snapped his fingers directly in front of my face.

"Are you still with me?" he laughed, ruffling my hair with a soft towel. "I was saying we could set off for the gym right now, if you wanted? I'm pretty sure it's only a 10 minute drive down the street."

"Yeah, sure, let's go," I babbled, still struggling to shake the image of Eren's sculpted physique from my mind. "What should we wear?"

"Well, if you'd been paying attention," Eren began, cheekily referencing my daydreaming escapade. "I put on a vest under my jumper, and obviously I'm wearing loose trousers. You could do the same? It seems practical."

My mouth went dry as I pictured his torso beneath the navy wool, realising that my previous reverie was about to become a reality. My blood was sent pumping around my body as I charged into the bedroom, towel flying off and leaving me naked in my haste, not that I gave a fuck. I hurriedly dressed myself into similar attire to my partner, before grabbing my watch, phone and keys from the coffee table and pushing the both of us out of the building and onto the street.

It was icy and freezing cold, even inside the car, so we made a concerted effort to get the heating on quickly before we drove away. There was no time limit on our arrival at the gym, so the only hurry was warming up as soon as possible before my fingers dropped off. I hate the cold, and made no effort to conceal my grumbling.

Eren had estimated at a ten minute drive down the street. Turns out, he couldn't have been more bloody incorrect. After driving aimlessly around the city for over half an hour, becoming increasingly bad tempered, we still hadn't found a single trace of a gym, or any kind of sport centre. After an hour and fifteen minutes, it had typically started to rain, sending sleet cascading across the windshield and making it almost impossible to see three feet of road in front of me. The wipers were very against cooperation, resulting in me swearing as we narrowly avoided smashing into a cluster of dustbins on the corner of a one way street (which we had incidentally taken in the incorrect direction).

After almost two hours of pointless petrol-wasting, I was fuming, starving, and freezing; the heater had given up 45 minutes into the journey. We had not even located a single dumbbell, and quite honestly, we were too exhausted to keep on trying. After a fleeting conversation, we agreed to head home, and that was of course, the ideal moment for the car to break down. In the middle of the fucking road.

"You bastard!" I yelled, punching the steering wheel and achieving nothing except a bruised palm. "What the hell are you trying to do to me?! It's meant to be bloody Christmas! Give me a damn break, you piece of crappy shit!"

"Do you realise that you swore at least once in every sentence, just then?" Eren remarked, earning himself a less than impressed glare from my frustrated irises.

"Yes, thank you," I snapped, kicking the door and yet again injuring a limb. "So would you mind suggesting something helpful, rather than making snarky comments about my language? I don't want to turn into a flipping ice cube here, you know? We need to get out of this road, or else we'll be ploughed down by a fucking ASDA truck!"

"Calm down, we need to think clearly here," Eren said, trying and failing to clear my mind.

"Calm down!" I shrieked, becoming somewhat hysterical as I forced open the door, battling the gale that had begun to blow as I stumbled out of the car. "How the hell am I supposed to calm down? My car has stopped right in the road, in the middle of a winter storm, we have no coats, no extra fuel, and no means of fetching help!"

"You brought your phone," Eren replied flatly, holding said artefact out towards me with an air of awful simplicity. "Why don't we call Mikasa? Her house is right around here."

"Why don't you call her, while I try to figure out what's wrong with this bloody vehicle," I grunted, admitting defeat in my usual silent fashion and shutting Eren back into the car.

I trudged around to the bonnet, heaving it above my head to examine the rusty contents of the engine.

"God, I need a new car," I muttered, wincing as I balanced the bonnet on top of my head, to allocate me use of my hands.

I could faintly hear Eren's conversation with his sister from within the car, although I couldn't make out any words over the incessant chattering of my teeth. I gave up on D.I.Y and instead decided to slam the boot shut for a bit of venting, and quickly hop back inside the car, tucking my hands into the sleeves of my jumper as the sleet began to pound on the roof.

Eren hung up the phone and handed it back to me, eventually putting it back inside the glove box when I refused to extract my hands to take it. He turned to face me, looking apprehensive and annoyed.

"Well..." he began, and I could tell by his tone that it wasn't good news. "Mikasa's at work, so there's no hope there I'm afraid. I called Armin too, but he and Christa are out today, and I couldn't get through to Ymir. There's no one else to call! How does the engine look?"

"Do you think I know anything about how cars work?" I snorted, glowering at my trembling knees. "I have no idea what's wrong with the engine, but I think I can guess that we're out of fuel. We were driving non-stop for hours, and I forgot to check the dial on the dashboard. But now the car's screwed, there's no chance of that! What the heck are we going to do?"

"I suppose we'll have to call a car rescue company," Eren sighed, sounding resigned to the worst. "Do you have an emergency phone book in here?"

"How organised do you think I am?!" I exploded. "That's a ludicrous idea! Of course I don't. We'll have to search for a number on the internet. Chuck me my phone, would you?"

Eren obediently handed me my handset and watched as I attempted to access a webpage. But alas, the connection was worse than that of the bond between me and my ex-employers, so there was no chance of even loading a search engine. And my phone's battery was getting low, useless piece of junk that it was.

I sighed hopelessly, allowing the mobile to slide from my grasp and onto my lap as I leant forward to rest my arms on the stationary steering wheel, dropping my chin onto my hands and gazing out of the window.

The sleet outside had completely drowned the glass, clouding my vision as we sat in the middle of the road. And yet, something was suddenly different, and it wasn't until Eren pointed it out that I actually noticed it.

"It's snowing!" he gasped, perching excitedly forward in his seat. "Look at it Levi, it's snowing!"

I was unable to reply: my throat had closed up with emotion. It was indeed, snowing. Soft, fluffy flakes were floating down from the cloudy expanse above, landing and slowly melting on the bonnet of the car, gently creating a sparse blanket of crystal clean white on the road around us. Eren and I sat and stared, forgetting our cold and our misery as we watched the world become bathed in a blanket of winter, and I enjoyed the sensation of appreciating snowfall for the first time in my life.

The steady stream of snowflakes quickly became a blizzard, covering the windscreen and windows and obscuring this phenomenon from our vision. Simultaneously, Eren and I flung our doors open, dashing out to meet each other in front of the car, standing out in the snowstorm.

I tipped my head back and stared up into the sky, blinking as fluffy drops slid over my eyelashes, and laughing as the flakes landed on my nose and rosy red cheeks. I looked over at Eren, who's deep green stare was mesmerized by the snow, his face aglow with winter happiness. I grinned and took his freezing hand, pulling us together in the centre of the white carpet that nature had gifted to us.

In the middle of that deserted, dark street, in front of our broken down car, we shared a kiss that I will never forget. Eren's icy lips forged with mine as our hands entwined around each other's necks, an instant warmth surging between our bodies as the snowflakes swirled around us, cascading down from the skies and dotting Eren's soft brown hair with damp specks of white beauty. We broke apart for air before continuing the kiss, diving in deeper as the snowflakes increased in speed, creating a waterfall of cold winter around us. I held Eren tighter to me than I ever had before, smashing my mouth to his as our tongues danced, mimicking the flakes of crystalline cream that began to bury our feet.

There we stood, not caring that the sun was beginning to set, not caring that both of us were colder than we had ever been before, not caring that we had no idea where we were or what we were going to do. Nothing else mattered apart from that kiss, which seemed to speak words that neither of us knew the meaning to. It was like a different language, expressing our love and devotion to each other in harmony with mother nature, and her beautiful, sparkling fairies that floated around us.

The car was done for, and we were nowhere near our home. We had no food and we had no coats, but who needs domestic comforts when you're holding your lover in the snow? When would I possibly need anything more than Eren? Just Eren, with his green eyes standing out stunningly in the snow, and his soft lips slowly warming my entire body, moving in unison with my own.

I love you Eren, so damn much.


End file.
